From: Harry George <hgg9140@seanet.com>
To: michael.friel@dhs.gov
Subject: CBP website and open source
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:43:35 -0800
X-Mailer: Sylpheed-Claws 1.0.3 (GTK+ 1.2.10; i686-suse-linux)

Please forward to the webmaster/technical staff for the
http://www.cbp.gov/ site.

1. There is no obvious contact for webmaster, so I assumed a
media relations manager will know how to get to the right people.

2. The data formats used and the listed software products (you are
careful to say they are not recommendations) at this page are
disconcertingly biased:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/admin/fl/site_info/downloading.xml

It is as if Microsoft and Adobe purchased "product placement" ad space. 
Whether intentional or not, I'm sure you are aware of the national and
international furor over proprietary document formats,
patent-encumbered audio/video formats, and a presentation format (PDF)
which can be simple-and-safe (PDF/A) but is rendered a major security
hole when used in extended form by Adobe Reader.


Here are some recommendations for improving the situation:

2.1.  At least mention Firefox as a candidate browser.  Perhaps
Opera as well.   Listing Netscape makes me wonder which decade this page
was last updated.   Furthermore, make every webpage readable in current
versions of these browsers.  

As for content:
a) "IE-only" pages have no business on a
tax-payer-funded website.   

b) Javascript-enabled web pages may be pretty, but they introduce an
element of risk that is inappropriate for a security-oriented
organization.   KISS is the first step in secure internet.

2.2. Make documentation (word processing, spreadsheets, and
presentations) available in Open Document Format (ODF). 
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=office

As you know, this is the original international standard for documents,
and the only one not marred by bribery and back-room deals.  And, if
you've every compared ODF to OOXML as schema or as actual documents, you
know that a tax-payer-funded organization really ought to be using ODF
as its standard.   You might generate Microsoft-proproetary data formats
as well (this can be done with a hands-off server)

Having made ODF available, you can cite OpenOffice.org as a viewer.  
Further you can mention OpenOffice can also view Microsoft .doc, .xls,
and .ppt files.

2.3. Make audio/video available in non-proprietary formats.   The US
Constitution requires providing patents and copyrights, but it does not
require government offices to choose to make a few people rich at
the expense of the population.   Alternative formats for audio include
.ogg with vorbis and theora encoding.

3. You might even want to let Rep. Holt know of your site improvements.