Daily Archives: Monday, February 3, 2014

  • Rent your freedom

    Anyone who uses MS Office will know that .docx (otherwise known as Microsoft Word Office Open XML Format. Ed.) is a file format used by MS Word.

    As a proprietary file format, there’s always a risk of vendor-lock-in with .docx and its fellow Office file formats.

    That said, this vehicle rental firm has an most apposite slogan on its vehicles, particularly as Microsoft has now moved MS Office onto subscription licensing with MS Office 365.

    image of van bearing wording DOCX Rental, Rent Your Freedom

    To avoid renting freedom where your data is concerned, this blog recommends using free and open document formats, like Open Document Format (ODF).

    Next month sees Document Freedom Day 2014 (DFD) being held on 26th. DFD’s aims are to promote information accessibility and raise awareness of open standards. More details and resources are available on the DFD website.

    Hat tip: FSFE