OOXML: disquiet across the Tasman
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| Christie says that responses have often been of poor quality. "If we were to
| extrapolate (the) poor quality of responses we have seen to the 54 Standard
| NZ comments to those of all the other NBs then we can only conclude that the
| result is probably a worse mess than the document we reviewed last August. Of
| course, that is conjecture because ECMA have yet to release the revised
| document, despite having made assurances that they would have done by now."
|
| [...]
|
| Christie said the delay to release the revised document was causing
| concern. "...MS (Microsoft)... simply appear to be running down the clock.
| They are appearing to engage positively when that seems important (in SNZ
| meetings, for example) but what actually comes out are endless requests for
| more technical clarification from experts like Matthew Cruikshank and then
| very poorly executed responses."
|
| "My personal view is that for a company with Microsoft's seemingly endless
| resources this is a very cynical ploy. The way ISO and the BRM work is to
| focus on one single issue at a time and tick each one off as 'resolvable'
| rather than take a holistic view of the specification.
|
| Cruickshank added: "This isn't an issue of trust (re: promises) it's that the
| ECMA/Microsoft editor continues to introduce new errors into the standard
| because they're not technically minded and because their approach hasn't
| involved the wider document community."
|
| On this side of the Tasman, lobbying efforts by Microsoft are going on apace.
| The company recently got itself invited to meetings of both the Sydney Linux
| User Group and the Linux Users of Victoria (one of two Melbourne-based LUGs)
| where, among other things, it could spruik its case.
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http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16571/1148/1/0/
Related:
Standards Australia defends its decision to abstain from OOXML vote
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| Standards Australia has defended it's decision to abstain from the ISO
| (International Organisation for Standardization) and IEC (International
| Electrotechnical Commission) ballot to approve Microsoft's Office Open XML
| format as an international standard, saying Australia still has a chance to
| approve or disapprove the vote.
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http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=1462384209&rid=-50
OSIA takes issue with OOXML, lobbies Standards Australia
,----[ Quote ]
| Opposition to the endorsement of the program comes on top of the suspected
| stacking by Microsoft of a variety of standards bodies in order to get OOXML
| approved as the ISO standard. "This was not part of OSIA's submission and is
| not anything OSIA has direct knowledge of", said Scott. "However, there are a
| number of people who assert that Microsoft is doing as you suggest", he said.
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http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=562760212&rid=-50
Report from Australia - the OOXML Forum
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| I'd say things look grim in Australia, but it's not too late to express
| yourself to Australia Standards. The public is encouraged to continue to send
| comments until August 21.
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http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070809103920651
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