"There is enormous interest particularly in developing countries who have technical expertise, knowledge and infrastructure, but they aren't tied into proprietary systems to the same extent as the U.S. because they started at a later date," Lynch said. "It's going to be easier for them to make the change."

The Open Document Fellowship, a volunteer organization formed in September to promote the use and development of the ODF, co-produced Friday's workshop with Southern California Linux Expo Inc. Ryan Singer, a founding member of the fellowship, said the group is looking into the possibility of organizing other informational workshops in the future.