Here’s something for you to think about. How should our governments keep track of things?

By "things," I’m referring to government documents, like records of meetings, laws, budgets and any other official records and communications. You know, the things that governments create as they plod along through time, and citizens are apt to want to look at.

Since we have governments "of the people, by the people, and for the people," we (the people, not the government) should be the ultimate owners of such things, right? And it follows that as the owners of the information, we should be able to look at it, right?

Well, should they write everything out in longhand with a quill and ink on parchment? Lasts hundreds of years and anybody could read it, but would probably bottom out on the efficiency scale.

How about typewriters and carbon paper? That might be better, but if you wanted to see something, you’d still have to visit the place where the document is.

Maybe they should use computers and electronic files. The cost of copies of documents would be almost nil, and they can be shot around the world at nearly the speed of light, for the governed people to read, if they want.

What’s that? You say they already do use computers and electronic files? Well, that’s good, I guess.

So, hypothetically, if I had an interest in and want to read the minutes of some committee meeting, they can just e-mail a copy of the file the secretary created to me, right?

To answer my own question, yes, they could do that. But whether or not I could read it is another matter.

It would depend on the file’s format. I would need a computer program that would understand and correctly interpret the file in order to be able to read it properly.

Over the years, computer file formats have been many and varied. Even within particular formats there has been evolution. If a program reads a file and doesn’t correctly understand the format, it can display the content incorrectly, or not at all.

So, you can see where this could be a problem.

Now, if everyone used a common format, this would go a long way toward solving the problem, wouldn’t it?

Of course, this solution presents yet another problem. Which format should we all use?

Software companies have used proprietary formats as competitive tools, and the chosen format would bring a big advantage to its owner, and potentially lock out competitors.

So now we have a more accurate picture of the scenario. The battle over which format would be a standard for everyone is huge for certain companies.

Who are the players, then?

Microsoft, for one. It has used its Windows monopoly to leverage its Office Suite into the most widely used software, even among governments. So Microsoft says ``use our format." Of course, in order to do that, everyone would have to buy its software, as the Office formats are proprietary to Microsoft. And Office isn’t cheap.

So, everyone would have to shell out more money to Microsoft.

Or, we could use a format that is not controlled by any particular company, all the specifications of which are openly available to everyone, for no charge. This format already exists, and some programs already use it, and some of the programs are even available to anyone for free.

Which would you prefer?

I think this issue must have been the spark which coined the phrase "no-brainer."

Now, some civic-minded people have created movements and in some places begun legislation to require their governments (at the state level) to use open formats.

In all these places, guess what’s happened. Yep, Microsoft has fought ferociously against them. They send an army of well-financed lobbyists to state legislatures to stomp out any ideas of free formats.

Scenarios like this have played out in several states, and so far, it seems like Microsoft has been winning by defeating bills or watering them down so that they are meaningless.

Only Massachusetts has had success so far, by using an executive order instead of legislation to accomplish the open-format standard in that state.

Now, the reason I’m bringing all this to you is because there has begun a movement in our own New York State Legislature to begin to examine this and other related public document issues.

There will undoubtedly eventually be a big fight about it, as there has been in other places. You can help by letting your voice be heard among your state legislators.

Let them know that you think state records should be created in freely available formats.

If legislators know that enough people understand the situation, and will hold them accountable for what they do, they’ll do what’s right instead of what Microsoft’s lobbyists want.

Bruce Endries is former systems manager at The Daily Star. He can be reached by e-mail at techgp@dailystarmail.com.