Opinion: Einstein's definition of insanity...
,----[ Quote ]
| But ISO standards have a much more political dimension to them than Internet
| (IETF) or World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards. Every country can vote,
| although not all chose to do so. Over the past few weeks, some strange and
| rather irregular national positions have come to light. My favourites were
| Cuba voting "Yes" to the fast-tracking of OOXML, even though Microsoft is
| prohibited by the US Government from selling any software on the island that
| might even be able to read and write the new format, and Azerbaijan's "Yes"
| vote, even though OOXML as defined isn't able to express a Web URL address in
| Azeri, their official language.
`----
http://www.linuxformat.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=632
News From Hungary: A Followup Meeting of TC on MSOOXML Dec. 5
,----[ Quote ]
| Do you remember the August meeting of the Technical Committee in Hungary over
| whether to approve MS OOXML as a standard? It was one of the places where the
| scandal-rocked ISO process bubbled up and over into headlines. In that
| country, the issue was whether proper procedures were followed in the voting.
| There is now a report and transcript of the meeting [PDF] in Hungarian, of
| course, 27 pages long, which is now made public.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071126212255401
Related:
Whither OOXML?
,----[ Quote ]
| Strangely, however, Microsoft appears to be soft-pedaling its own standard.
| At GOSCON last week there was a panel on document formats, with reps from
| IBM, Sun, Adobe, and Microsoft present. Each of the company representatives
| got to speak for five minutes and present his company's perspective on
| document formats.
|
| In his presentation, Matusow appeared to be backing away from OOXML as a key
| technology. If you look at the slide he presented...
|
| ...you can see that the positioning now is that the tool is key, and the
| document format secondary, which, to my mind, is a bizarre assertion,
| although it's one that aligns with a positioning that, above all, must keep
| Microsoft's tools in a predominate position.
|
| It appears to me that, having realized that the force-feeding of OOXML into
| an international standards body is problematic, Microsoft is now trying to
| present a soft TCO story which emphasizes sunk costs and pre-existing product
| versions as a reason to stay on the Microsoft path, along with an
| incomprehensible assertion that two document standards would be a good thing
| (this last is the most oddball position of all; how can anyone state with a
| straight face that the world would be well-served by having two incompatible
| editable file formats?).
`----
http://advice.cio.com/bernard_golden/wither_ooxml
Norbert Bollow starts OpenISO
,----[ Quote ]
| What do engineers do when they observe a problem? They start a project to fix
| it. A Swiss standard expert who got annoyed by the "Open XML bug" of ISO
| procedures launched OpenISO.org.
`----
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-18681/norbert-bollow-starts-openiso
Critics Skeptical That Microsoft Will Be Able To Alter Vote On OOXML
,----[ Quote ]
| "I don't believe the votes are later going to go in the other direction,"
| said Zemlin in an interview. Zemlin is sometimes criticized within Linux
| ranks for his repeated admonition that Microsoft must be respected as a
| competitor. But he was unsparing in his assessment of the ISO fast track
| outcome.
`----
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201804282
APEC and OOXML - both pointless and annoying
,----[ Quote ]
| Making just as many headlines as George Bush's travelling circus has been
| Microsoft's failed attempt to fast-track its OOXML document format to the
| status of an ISO standard.
|
| Both these events have been annoying and pointless. Neither has done anything
| but generate a huge amount of FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt).
`----
http://www.zdnet.com.au/blogs/securifythis/soa/APEC-and-OOXML-both-pointless-and-annoying/0,139033343,339281842,00.htm
OOXML is defective by design
http://ooxmlisdefectivebydesign.blogspot.com/2007/08/microsoft-office-xml-formats-defective.html
Microsoft Loses, Spins Open XML Vote
,----[ Quote ]
| ISO issued a statement that makes plain what Microsoft tried to spin as a
| victory.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2178917,00.asp
Microsoft FUD Watch: OOXML Edition
,----[ Quote ]
| Apparently, there is more than one way to stuff the ballot box.
|
| In all my years working as a journalist, I've never seen any technology
| company spin information the way Microsoft did today. The press release on
| OOXML ratification is a blueprint for spinning semantics, and the stringing
| together of truths and half-truths to seemingly make the outcome of one event
| something else altogether.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/business_applications/microsoft_fud_watch_ooxml_edition.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
Microsoft spins OOXML loss as a win
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft lost its effort to win “fast track” approval of its OOXML (which it
| calls Open XML) as an international standard, but you wouldn’t know that
| from reading much of the press coverage.
|
| * Microsoft claims global support for Open XML.
| * Microsoft reports victory in preliminary ISO ballot.
| * Microsoft takes big step toward OOXML approval.
| * Microsoft is seen winning an international standard vote.
| * Strong global support for Open XML.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1382
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
,----[ Quote ]
| No kidding. Microsoft continues to steam-roll the competition, as illustrated
| by its latest attempt to ram acceptance of OOXML through ISO by the blatantly
| rigging the vote. And of course the European's really love Microsoft's
| business practices. Not. No, Microsoft has the DoJ in their hip pocket thanks
| to the "pro-business" stance of the Bush administration, and as long as
| Bushites remain in power and the Democrats remain inept and impotent, it's
| going to stay that way. Which leaves those of use who really believe in a
| free and fair market to fend for ourselves.
`----
http://blogbeebe.blogspot.com/2007/09/lord-what-fools-these-mortals-be.html
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