D
Dr. Jai Maharaj
Microsoft flip-flops on ODF support
Sponsorship of open source project seen as a way to
salvage government business
By Tom Sanders in California
vnunet.com
Friday, July 7, 2006
Microsoft had decided to sponsor an open source project
that aims to bring support for the Open Document Format
file format to its Office productivity suite.
The Open XML Translator project on Wednesday released an
early prototype of its tool. The tool is governed by the
open source BSD License and is hosted on Sourceforge. It
is set to support both past and future version of
Microsoft's Office suite.
Microsoft is acting as a 'sponsor', leaving the heavy
lifting up to partner companies including Clever Age,
Aztecsoft and Dialogika, based in France, India and
Germany respectively. Given the open source nature of the
project, individual developers will be able to contribute
to the project and make alternations.
"By enabling this translator, we will make both choice
and interoperability a more practical option for our
customers," said Jean Paoli, general manager of
interoperability and XML architecture at Microsoft.
"It is very important that customers have the freedom to
choose from a range of technologies to meet their diverse
needs."
Microsoft however is still dragging its feet, charged
Simon Phipps, chief open source officer for Sun
Microsystems and a long time supporter of the ODF format.
Although the tool allows users to import and export ODF
documents in Office 2007, it won't allow users to set ODF
as the default file format.
"Microsoft has architected this to make ODF as hard to
work with as possible, " Phipps wrote on his blog.
"Nonetheless, it does mean that those who have to stick
with Microsoft's product for whatever reason [. . .] are
able to join in with [ODF]-based workflows. "
ODF is defined by the Oasis standards body and has been
ratified by the International Organisation for
Standardisation as an official international standard.
The format is supported by several applications including
OpenOffice.
Microsoft will be using the OpenXML document format in
its forthcoming Office 2007 suite.
Although OpenXML has been submitted to ECMA for
ratification, critics have argued that it lacks openness.
Microsoft could change the standard in the future, making
it impossible for users to access their documents.
ODF in the past months has been gaining support,
especially among governments. The state of Massachusetts
last year unveiled a plan to mandate the format for its
agencies and was followed by the Belgium federal
government last month.
The momentum building behind ODF is believed to be the
main reason for Microsoft to sponsor the Open XML
Translator project.
"If we want to see Microsoft behaving in a way that
respects customers and standards, they will need to be
dragged kicking and screaming and FUDing all the way to
that conclusion," noted Sun's Phipps.
More at:
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2159846/microsoft-flip-flops-odf
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/a5ljc
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Sponsorship of open source project seen as a way to
salvage government business
By Tom Sanders in California
vnunet.com
Friday, July 7, 2006
Microsoft had decided to sponsor an open source project
that aims to bring support for the Open Document Format
file format to its Office productivity suite.
The Open XML Translator project on Wednesday released an
early prototype of its tool. The tool is governed by the
open source BSD License and is hosted on Sourceforge. It
is set to support both past and future version of
Microsoft's Office suite.
Microsoft is acting as a 'sponsor', leaving the heavy
lifting up to partner companies including Clever Age,
Aztecsoft and Dialogika, based in France, India and
Germany respectively. Given the open source nature of the
project, individual developers will be able to contribute
to the project and make alternations.
"By enabling this translator, we will make both choice
and interoperability a more practical option for our
customers," said Jean Paoli, general manager of
interoperability and XML architecture at Microsoft.
"It is very important that customers have the freedom to
choose from a range of technologies to meet their diverse
needs."
Microsoft however is still dragging its feet, charged
Simon Phipps, chief open source officer for Sun
Microsystems and a long time supporter of the ODF format.
Although the tool allows users to import and export ODF
documents in Office 2007, it won't allow users to set ODF
as the default file format.
"Microsoft has architected this to make ODF as hard to
work with as possible, " Phipps wrote on his blog.
"Nonetheless, it does mean that those who have to stick
with Microsoft's product for whatever reason [. . .] are
able to join in with [ODF]-based workflows. "
ODF is defined by the Oasis standards body and has been
ratified by the International Organisation for
Standardisation as an official international standard.
The format is supported by several applications including
OpenOffice.
Microsoft will be using the OpenXML document format in
its forthcoming Office 2007 suite.
Although OpenXML has been submitted to ECMA for
ratification, critics have argued that it lacks openness.
Microsoft could change the standard in the future, making
it impossible for users to access their documents.
ODF in the past months has been gaining support,
especially among governments. The state of Massachusetts
last year unveiled a plan to mandate the format for its
agencies and was followed by the Belgium federal
government last month.
The momentum building behind ODF is believed to be the
main reason for Microsoft to sponsor the Open XML
Translator project.
"If we want to see Microsoft behaving in a way that
respects customers and standards, they will need to be
dragged kicking and screaming and FUDing all the way to
that conclusion," noted Sun's Phipps.
More at:
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2159846/microsoft-flip-flops-odf
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/a5ljc
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.