KOffice Developers Meet with KDE Core People for ODF Infrastructure
,----[ Quote ]
| This OpenDocument library will not be ready for KDE 4.0, but a
| preliminary goal is to finish the design and also have the first
| version of it ready for KOffice 2.1 and KDE 4.1. We will produce
| reports on the progress during and after the meeting so that the
| KDE community is kept well informed about the progress.
`----
http://dot.kde.org/1177773146/
The prevalence is OpenDocument is imminent, despite all the dirty tricks, a
sample of which is added below. This will help eliminate one of the few
products from Microsoft that are actually profitable.
Related:
Open Standards for Florida vs Microsoft lobbyists
,----[ Quote ]
| Bottom line: Rep. Ed Homan (R-Tampa) tried to get a small paragraph
| added to a general IT bill in the State Senate that mildly favored
| open standards (i.e. ODF etc.) in state IT operations. It was a
| quiet effort, he told me, but still, within 24 hours all the
| State Senators on the appropriate committee had been contacted
| by lobbyists representing Microsoft, who also paid him a visit.
`----
http://www.openaddict.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=667
State by state, Microsoft responds to creeping threat
,----[ Quote ]
| Characteristically, as lawmakers like Homan have learned,
| Microsoft's hardly taking a passive position.
|
| [...]
|
| 'Microsoft sees what's coming. Things like Word and Excel
| sort of like a drug now getting ready to go generic.'
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/state-state-microsoft-responds-assault/story.aspx?guid=%7BC0D943C4%2D4ADC%2D471C%2D8F87%2D9181A4EC3E7B%7D&siteid=yhoof
http://tinyurl.com/2akafj
Microsoft calls on UK public to raise the Office standard
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is calling on the Great British public to join its campaign
| to get the XML Office format adopted as an international standard.
|
| [...]
|
| It is not clear if the UK is an opponent. However, a representative
| of fellow member the Bureau of Indian Standards recently reportedly
| complained to the IndiaTime.com over Microsoft's decision to dump
| 6,000 pages of documentation on them.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/04/microsoft_office_standards_petition/
Microsoft Fights for OpenOffice XML Standard Approval
,----[ Quote ]
| To win approval, Microsoft must obtain 75 percent of all
| votes cast.
|
| Organizers have said they expect representatives from about
| 100 countries, including the United States, Canada and most
| large European and Asian nations, to ultimately cast ballots
| on the issue.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/56642.html
Microsoft's Open XML Format Advances in ISO
,----[ Quote ]
| Andy Updegrove, a partner with Boston law firm Gesmer Updegrove and
| editor of the ConsortiumInfo.org standards blog, said that 14 of 20
| responses were clearly negative, two indicated divisions of opinion,
| three were inconclusive or neutral, and one offered no objections.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2110684,00.asp
Packing The Court At The ISO?
,----[ Quote ]
| ...P member countries ('participating member' countries) sending
| representatives, and I am interested to note the majority of
| their representatives are, as individuals, also Microsoft employees.
|
| [...]
|
| How can they not see that OOXML (ECMA 376) is unwanted by anyone outside of
| Microsoft? How about it Brian Jones? Are you really so desperate that you
| have to resort to that?
`----
http://lnxwalt.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/packing-the-court-at-the-iso/
Q&A: Former Mass. CIO feels 'bittersweet pride' after battles with Microsoft,
legislature
,----[ Quote ]
| As CIO of Massachusetts from February to November last year, Louis
| Gutierrez had to endure most of the brunt of Microsoft Corp.'s political
| wrath over a state policy calling for the adoption of the Open Document
| Format for Office Applications, or ODF -- a rival to the software vendor's
| Office Open XML file format.
|
| [...]
|
| Do you see any reason for there to be two standards? If you were
| starting blank-slate, there certainly would not be value to creating
| two separate standards. Over time, it has sometimes been useful to
| have the competition of two standards to keep both sides honest.
| But I don't see particular value in the long-term co-existence of
| two separate standards.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012760&source=rss_news50
,----[ Quote ]
| Quinn: Almost to a person, to anybody involved or who knows about
| the ODF issue, they attributed the story to Microsoft, right, wrong
| or otherwise. Senator Pacheco may be a bully but I do not believe he
| is disingenious and would stoop to such a tactic. Senator Pacheco and
| Secretary Galvin's office remain very heavily influenced by the
| Microsoft money and its lobbyist machine, as witnessed by their
| playbook and words, in my opinion.
|
| Quinn: I believe that the ODF decision will stand. I believe MS
| will continue to do anything and everything it can to stop it. And I
| know my seat wasn't even empty and they (MS) took another shot at
| the title, to no avail. This horse is out of the barn and I see no
| way for it to go back in. Remember, all we are asking for was and is
| for Microsoft to commit to open and the standards process; so
| everyone looks really bad if the plug gets pulled at this juncture.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060119232859729
MA Governor-Elect Names MS Anti-ODF Lobbyist to Technology Advisory Group
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20061128161343183
The Sorry State of Massachusetts
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=2006111603531029
Microsoft offers schools in Mass. free software (to stop ODF adoption)
http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-6090196.html?part=rss&tag=6090196&subj=news
Microsoft plays Massachusetts Senate card
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32515
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
Years of deadlock on EU patent bring some new thinking
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/08/business/patents.php
,----[ Quote ]
| "A source that deals with the company said unofficially that Gates
| proposed Microsoft's Digital Rights Management technology as a national
| standard to fight piracy at the governmental level."
`----
http://www.kommersant.com/p719683/r_528/
Leaked letter warns of open source 'threat to eco-system'
http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=7109
Study: open source needs official support; Lobbyist disagrees with "flawed"
conclusions
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061017-8011.html
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
Open Source Foes In Bed With Abramoff
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/12/2036223&from=rss
EU official joins consultancy serving Microsoft
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-10-03T134311Z_01_L03693228_RTRIDST_0_TECH-MICROSOFT-OFFICIAL.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna
US ambassador to the EU was former Microsoft lobbyist
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34706
US politicians go to bat for Microsoft
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/
Changing the Report, After the Vote
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/01/commission
Microsoft playing three card monte with XML conversion
,----[ Quote ]
| Gary Edwards of the Open Document Foundation, a leading member
| of its technical committee, says Microsoft is playing proprietary
| games aimed at controlling XML file formats and preventing the
| Open Document Format from gaining a foothold.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=959
|
|
