Peter Quinn, Chief Information Officer for the state of Massachusetts who has spearheaded the state's planned switch to the Open Document Format, is planning to resign early next year, claims IDG News.

His upcoming departure is a direct result of the smear campaign against his person, he allegedly said on 24 December in an internal memo from which IDG News quoted:

"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."

Quinn among things has been accused of corruption for improperly disclosing trips to open source conferences.

His departure doesn't mean the end to the state's support for ODF, but it should be considered a major setback for the format's supporters nonetheless.

And without pointing to any culprits, it's no secret that Microsoft has been waging a strong lobby against Massachusetts' planned ODF switch (and away from the proprietary Microsoft Open XML format), which could set an important precedent and is watched around the world.

Quinn in 2004 at PROS Congress

Tags: ODF, open xml, Microsoft, OASIS

28 Dec 2005