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Lost in Translation: Interoperability Issues for Open Standards - ODF and OOXML
as Examples
,----[ Quote ]
| Open standards are widely considered to have significant economic and
| technological benefits. This has led many governments to consider mandating
| open standards for document formats. Document formats are how a computer
| stores memos or spreadsheets. Governments are moving away from Microsoft's
| proprietary DOC format to open standard document formats, such as the
| OpenDocument Format (ODF) and Office Open XML (OOXML). The belief is that by
| shifting to open standards, governments will benefit from choice,
| competition, and the ability to seamlessly substitute different vendor
implementations.
`----
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1201708
Also new:
jOpenDocument : a free Java library for ODF files manipulation, 1.1 beta
released
,----[ Quote ]
| We are pleased to announce the last beta version of the next version of our
| open document library.
`----
http://opendocument.xml.org/news/jopendocument-a-free-java-library-for-odf-files-manipulation-11-beta-released
Recent:
"A Strategy for Openness: Enhancing E-Records Access in New York State"
,----[ Quote ]
| What did they find? You can find the "Major Findings" on page 8 of this PDF,
| part 1 of the study. The most significant finding is that having more than
| one format doesn't provide increased choice. It confuses and increases
| complexity and costs instead. It would be better to use single, standardized
| formats to increase efficiency and interoperability. Well, we all tried to
| tell ISO that Microsoft's argument was wrong. They didn't listen, but that
| doesn't mean that governments will just fall into line. It's obvious that if
| you want interoperability, you need to agree on one standard everyone can use
| equally.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080520200012132
Software wars
,----[ Quote ]
| Allegations of committee-stuffing, the outcome of votes overridden by
| political appointees, a final decision that many involved consider tainted:
| this may sound like a discredited election in some third world country. But
| it is actually a description of an ugly fight over international technical
| standards that wrapped up this week. Microsoft came out on top, but at the
| cost of tarnishing its reputation and the credibility of an important
| back-room process that oils the wheels of many global industries.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c9743360-01a8-11dd-a323-000077b07658,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fc9743360-01a8-11dd-a323-000077b07658.html%3Fnclick_check%3D1&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.computerworlduk.com%2Ftool
Related:
Microsoft accused of stacking ISO committee
,----[ Quote
| In a memo sent following his last meeting as head of the working group on
| WG1, which is handling Microsoft’s application to make the Word format an ISO
| standard as ECMA 376, outgoing Governor Martin Bryan (above), an expert on
| SGML and XML, accused the company of stacking his group.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1777
Corrupt countries were more likely to support the OOXML document format
,----[ Quote ]
| Is this just a random coincidence? The median of the CPI index of the above
| mentioned 70 countries is 3.95. Of the most corrupted half (CPI index less
| than 3.95) 23 or 77% voted for approval (approval or approval with comments)
| and 7 or 23% for disapproval; 5 abstained. Of the least corrupted half (CPI
| index more than 3.95) 13 or 54% voted for approval and 11 or 46% voted for
| disapproval; 11 abstained - see the table below.
`----
http://www.effi.org/blog/kai-2007-09-05.en.html
Microsoft accused of more OOXML standards fiddling
,----[ Quote ]
| However the 11 new countries are refusing to say how they will vote. These
| include Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Ecuador, Jamaica, Lebanon, Malta, Pakistan,
| Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela. Most people seem to think
| that these have been put there by Vole to make sure the standard gets pushed
| through.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=42
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