ODF Is Becoming more Visible in My University!

My university has approved ODF for institutional use.  Still, resistance from the administrative staff, educators and students has become an obstacle in the generalized adoption of the open format.  Their reluctance to embrace ODF comes mainly from laziness and ignorance, not from a real advantage of using MS Office or its format.

Something that really bothered me was that, in spite of the university's position toward ODF, an online application for filling out our schedule affidavit only exported the data to .xslx, .docx or .pdf.

Apparently, many workers had trouble with that application and that resulted in a hiatus of the system while it was revised and improved.  Meanwhile, we were asked to download a file, print it and fill it out manually.

When I clicked on the link directing me to the file, I was surprised.  Instead of .xslx I saw .xsl AND .ods!

I also noticed a box for sending suggestions and complaints to human resources. "Well...It's time to say something!", I said to myself.  I sent a short message congratulating the ones in charge for making .ods available and also asked them to include that format in the new version of the online application, pointing out to the compatibility issues of .xslx.

Today, I received an e-mail from human resources.  The person in charge thanked me for my suggestion and said that they are working to "provide the appropriate tools for the university community."

Hopefully, that means that .ods will be available for exporting our data when we use the revised application. The fact that the current files for download are .ods and .xls instead of OOXML could mean that.  Let's see.

Little by little, ODF is becoming more visible in my university!