Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> ISO Ill at Ease Over OOXML
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| This is amazing: since when did proprietary lock-in represent ?additional
>| functionality?? That's a bit like saying handcuffs offer ?additional
>| functionality? to boring old handcuff-less freedom. Proprietary lock-in -
>| even when dignified with the euphemistic moniker of "legacy documents" - is
>| what open standards are supposed to avoid; touting it as an ?extra? is a
>| simple betrayal of the fundamental underlying idea.
>|
>| [...]
>|
>| In other words, ISO's FAQ, designed to quell the storm, ends up confirming
>| many of the very issues its critics have raised, and feeding it. Well, I
>| suppose that's a kind of progress.
> `----
>
> http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=712&blogid=14
>
> ISO is the next ECMA, fighting for one company against many governments,
> universities, companies. Truly amazing this degree of corruption in the
> system!
"Our value add" == "how we will lock you in"
"Innovating above the standard" == "how we will lock you in"
"Additional functionality" == "how we will lock you in"
"Embrace and extend" == "how we will lock you in"
"Extra features" == "how we will lock you in"
"Unique capabilities" == "how we will lock you in"
This is one area where vendors have a long history of forcing ambiguity
into standards in order to ensure that interoperability is limited, then
using same ambiguity to ensure an economic exit barrier so high that
customers have no room to manoeuvre at all.
That ISO would be so willing to not only cooperate openly with such
activity, but then attempt to excuse it as anything *but* lock-in shows
just how much ISO has chosen to represent the interests of one US company,
and at the same time, ignore the interests of the people and organisations
it is supposed (or at least, was supposed) to represent.
>
> Introducing OpenDocument
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| The OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF) is an XML
>| standard that lets you store and exchange office application documents,
>| including word-processor, spreadsheet, and presentation files. Whether you
>| try to perform special tasks on files saved from such applications or work on
>| applications to process such files, you should become familiar with this
>| important format. Learn about the two possible forms of OpenDocument files,
>| as multipart packages and as single XML documents, and learn how to structure
>| text and tabular information in OpenDocument.
> `----
>
> http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/edu/x-dw-x-odfintro.html?ca=dgr-lnxw03x-dw-x-odfintro&S_TACT=105AGX59&S_CMP=GRsitelnxw03
>
>
> Recent:
>
> ISO puts out a face-saving (it hopes) FAQ
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Dear ISO, damage control doesn't work, if you let the damage remain. That's
>| like putting out a statement that if an oil spill you caused does any damage
>| in the future, you'll clean it up right away, but for now, you'll leave the
>| spill in place and wait to see what happens going forward. Oil spills need to
>| be cleaned up before they do more damage.
>|
>| [...]
>|
>| I am sure you are relieved to hear it. Anyway, now you know. If Microsoft
>| plays dirty with patents, ISO might withdraw OOXML as a standard. And as
>| we've seen watching the OOXML standards process play out, when ISO says
>| something, they reeeeeally, reeealy mean it.
> `----
>
> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080415150233162
>
>
> SC34 opens the flood gates to ECMA
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| In my French, ISO is to become the next ECMA International. Indeed, SC34
>| expects more controversy to come: The participants in SC 34 propose to shield
>| themselves from public criticism.
> `----
>
> http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-53066/sc34-opens-the-flood-gates-to-ecma
>
>
> Related:
>
> Martin Bryan: we are getting ?standardization by corporation?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| A November informative report of Martin Bryan, Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34
>| WG1 highlights the fallout of the ECMA-376 fast-track process for ISO. He
>| says he is 'glad to be retiring before the situation becomes impossible'
>|
>| [...]
>|
>| In what is an astonishingly outspoken report, Martin Bryan, Convenor, ISO/IEC
>| JTC1/SC34 WG1 has given us insight into the total mess that Microsoft/ECMA
>| have caused during their scandalous, underhand and unremitting attempts to
>| get - what is a very poorly written specification {i.e. DIS 29500 aka OOXML,
>| AR} - approved as an ISO standard. ?
> `----
>
> http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-30107/martin-bryan:we-are-getting-standardization-by-corporation
>
>
> Dysfunctional ISO - Courtesy of Microsoft
>
> http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2007/12/dysfunctional-iso-courtesy-of-microsoft.html
--
| mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
| Open platforms prevent vendor lock-in. Own your Own services! |
|
|
