Andrew Loughran wrote: > I am forwarding a test that I received off the OpenDocument Mailing list > about the interoperability of the OpenDocument Format. I know that for most > of you, OpenDocument is a significant part of OOo, as it allows full > compatibility with all open source software, and through a partnership > between opensource and opendocument we can finally be free from MSO. > > However, OpenDocument isn't as interoperable as it may seem. > Attached is a small zip file containing three documents made by Koffice (the > original creators of the opendocument format, and three by OOo. Koffice > files are prefixed with k, and OOo files prefixed with O.
KOffice is not the original creator of the OD format. You should check your resources. ;-) > As you shall be able to see, despite all the files being opendocument files, > we have a major interoperability problem. Yes and no. As I can't see the attachments you have announced I can only guess what kind of interop problems you are talking about (and BTW: attachments on mailing lists aren't very popular), but in general it's true that there are some problems *in practice*. It's correct that currently the different implementations of the OD format are not perfect, but this is not necessarily a format problem, mostly it's a problem of the applications implementing it. We are aware of such problems and we are also aware of the fact that there might be even more problems than the ones we already know. OTOH we are committed to resolve them as we are committed to the format, not only because at the end it's our "baby" but because we believe in interoperability. OOo currently is the most complete implementation of OD but indeed there are some cases where OOo fails to import some files correctly that contain valid ODF written by other applications, e.g. KOffice. The same is true even to a much larger extent vice versa. Such issues are treated as bugs in OOo and will get fixed. At the end these cases are just the proof that ODF is *not* the published OOo file format as MS alleged in its infamous tries to lambaste ODF, it's more. And just *because* it's not just an imitation of the OOo file format and because ODF is a very new standard it should be clear that even the currently most complete implementation of the format (OOo) has to catch up a bit. Applications like KOffice are even more behind but AFAIK the developers are working really hard to implement the format and in case of problems we or they have detected we discuss those issues and resolve them. The way the standard was created and the commitment to interoperability make the difference between ODF and the upcoming so called "standard" dominated by Microsoft that indeed *is* an imitation of the MS Office file formats and as it has a poorly defined semantics and can be changed by MS at will has the interop problems built in. > Is there someway that you can look into this technical issue and resolve it, > or else it could become a big weakness for MS to play on when trying to > promote their own XML standard. Of course the OOo developers will have a look on such issues. Please use Issuezilla and file reports for them with the files attached. Best regards, Mathias -- Mathias Bauer - OpenOffice.org Application Framework Project Lead Please reply to the list only, [EMAIL PROTECTED] is a spam sink. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
