Peter J. Quinn
Encyclopedia
Peter J. Quinn, an information technology
(IT) worker, was Chief Information Officer
(CIO) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
from September 2002 through January 2006. He is noted for his controversial support for OpenDocument
, a standard format for office documents (ISO/IEC 26300).
Quinn established a requirement that all state government documents be formatted in OpenDocument (effective 2007). This created intense opposition from Microsoft
, whose Office
software uses proprietary
formats and does not recognize OpenDocument files. Although Quinn found support both within and outside government, he was opposed in his efforts; for example by Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
William F. Galvin
. Furthermore, the Boston Globe alleged that Quinn had misused public travel funds for trips to IT conferences, where he was supportive of open source software. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/26/romney_administration_reviewing_trips_made_by_technology_chief/ Quinn was cleared of wrongdoing, but he has resigned, stating the following:
In an interview with Peter on Groklaw
he states that "he hears Microsoft was the Boston Globe's source"
Quinn is a graduate of Cambridge College
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(IT) worker, was Chief Information Officer
Chief information officer
Chief information officer , or information technology director, is a job title commonly given to the most senior executive in an enterprise responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals...
(CIO) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
from September 2002 through January 2006. He is noted for his controversial support for OpenDocument
OpenDocument
The Open Document Format for Office Applications is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....
, a standard format for office documents (ISO/IEC 26300).
Quinn established a requirement that all state government documents be formatted in OpenDocument (effective 2007). This created intense opposition from Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, whose Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
software uses proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
formats and does not recognize OpenDocument files. Although Quinn found support both within and outside government, he was opposed in his efforts; for example by Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the state government of the U.S...
William F. Galvin
William F. Galvin
William Francis Galvin is the 27th and current Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth .-Early life and career:...
. Furthermore, the Boston Globe alleged that Quinn had misused public travel funds for trips to IT conferences, where he was supportive of open source software. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/26/romney_administration_reviewing_trips_made_by_technology_chief/ Quinn was cleared of wrongdoing, but he has resigned, stating the following:
- Over the last several months, we have been through some very difficult and tumultuous times. Many of these events have been very disruptive and harmful to my personal well being, my family and many of my closest friends. This is a burden I will no longer carry....I have become a lightning rod with regard to any IT initiative. Even the smallest initiatives are being mitigated or stopped by some of the most unlikely and often uninformed parties. The last thing I can let happen is my presence be the major contributing factor in marginalizing the good work of ITD and the entire IT community.
In an interview with Peter on Groklaw
Groklaw
Groklaw is an award-winning website covering legal news of interest to the free and open source software community. Started as a law blog on May 16, 2003 by paralegal Pamela Jones at Radio UserLand, it has covered issues such as the SCO-Linux lawsuits, the EU anti-trust case against Microsoft, and...
he states that "he hears Microsoft was the Boston Globe's source"
Quinn is a graduate of Cambridge College
Cambridge College
Cambridge College is a private, non-profit college based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in adult education.It offers distance learning and blended learning programs toward undergraduate and graduate degrees in education, counseling, psychology, management, health care management, and...