There is one reliable rule when judging which way these things go -
look for where the money is!
There is no cashflow from Open Document Format. There is, however,
'lobbying' (and all that entails!) from the big commercial companies,
so the result is entirely predictable.
I downloaded the Consultation Document. The bureaucratic obfuscation
it contains, and the frequent inclusion of external references (FRAND
being one example) ensures that understanding the document would be
such a massive task that so few would be able to do it and mount an
effective challenge that the big players will be assured of victory
(as usual!).
Although Linux, and other Open Source software which use ODF, seems to
be growing in market share, it is nowhere near stable or usable enough
for the main market drivers, business, to rely upon.
Producing stable and reliable office software that business can use
with confidence - an equivalent to the full MS-Office suit - that
doesn't suffer from frequent upgrades or patches (a version that runs
for a decade without changes would be a good target) is what is sorely
needed. I know many MS-based business who deliberately do not upgrade
for as long as they can, and I ran XP-Pro and Office-Pro for about
that long on that very basis - that plan only went wrong when new PCs
only came with Vista and XP was not available.
I am using Linux now for as much of work as I can, but it is the
'office' applications that enable the power giants to rule in business
and in government, and it is here that Linux has a long way to go.
Only when Linux is good and stable enough to attract business, most of
whom require no more than MS-Office suit's offerings for their normal
daily internal and external work and inter-business communications,
will the uptake be strong enough to starve the lobby-supported
giants. Make them wither on the vine!
This 'Consultation' will support the lobbing giants as I am sure it is
designed to do. I am keeping my eyes, and hopes, on developing Open
Source offerings.
When Open Source is stable and usable enough (when you don't need a
full-time IT to make it work!), I plan, through my organisation, to
offer free training and support to small and medium-sized business who
want to set up on it or make the switch. I would still support a
challenge, think this is a better, more practical, and eventually more
effective, way to challenge the power-giants than getting sucked into
a bogus 'Consultation'.
Well, that's my view anyway.
Charles Miller
PAMPRU Institute
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