John W. Kennedy wrote:
<John>"Yes, but at least the Microsoft standards are Microsoft standards. OpenDocument, until OASIS acts, isn't /any body's/ standard -- not even OOo's, since OOo 2.0 is in beta.</John>
Hi John,
As of 9:00 PM, EST OASIS has acted. The OOo OpenDocument has been ratified as an official OASIS Open Standard.
So now the world can choose. They can choose the proprietary Microsoft standards, which are at least Microsoft standards. Or they can choose a Global Open XML Standard.
What a tough decision. On the one hand we have an unstructured proprietary format that is arbitrarily changed to make certain that Microsoft remains one of the most profitable companies in mankind's history. Yes, Microsoft file formats are the defacto standard. Such is the way of the Monopolist. But during the anti trust trial, the evidence proved, and Microsoft was convicted of some the most deceitful, despicable, dishonest and thoroughly reprehensible business practices ever to come before a Federal Court of Justice or otherwise be disclosed in public.
So you can choose to put your information and your information processes in the trusted hands of a convicted monopolist, a hardened recidivist reprobate. Or, you could put your information into an open, highly structured, XML file format that is now recognized as an International Open Standard. And, you might also want to consider converting your information processes over to an Open Standards based, open source community driven cross platform productivity environment that can natively consume and produce OpenDocument file formats.
And gee, there is that issue of the Internet becoming the platform for everything. At the recent OSBC 2005, Jeffrey Moore, author of "Crossing the Chasm", stated that there is no such thing as software being developed today that doesn't involve open Internet protocols, methods, and interfaces. It truly is becoming the universal platform of connectivity and collaborative computing. And do you know what else was a topic at OSBC? If the Internet is "the" computer, open XML is the API.
Just when you thought the only decision you had to make was how to cover your quarterly check to Redmond, someone comes along and complicates things. Bastardos!
~ge~
Nicolas Mailhot wrote:
John W. Kennedy a écrit :
Gary Edwards wrote:
And what do they do with OpenDocument? They mark it acceptable as an open standard "pending" ratification by OASIS.
Why is OpenDocument the only file format in the Commonwealth's list that requires ratification by an Open Standards Group? Yeah. You got it. It's a set up. And Open Source is the target.
Ummm.... I'm no expert on the day-to-day politics of Open Source, but it seems to me they have the rather obvious justification that until OASIS (or somebody, but OASIS is the one at bat now) ratifies OpenDocument, it isn't any sort of standard in the first place.
Sometimes a "pending" is just a "pending".
But then neither are the other proposed formats, except they somehow don't have to pass the same test to be considered "standards"
Yes, but at least the Microsoft standards are Microsoft standards. OpenDocument, until OASIS acts, isn't /anybody's/ standard -- not even OOo's, since OOo 2.0 is in beta.
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