An interesting development. Perhaps over time they will take Sun's route with Java. I do think the tides are turning toward open systems and file formats, albeit slowly.
----- Original Message ----- From: "-ray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 6:22 PM Subject: [brlug-general] Microsoft Opening Office XML Formats > > Microsoft Opening Office XML Formats > http://www.microsoft.com/office/xml/default.mspx > > I'm sure ya'll saw this on slashdot. I'm sure this is a good thing for > OpenOffice compatibility, and hopefully we'll even get an OO visio > component! But I'm concerned at the naivete of the Massachusetts > government. Correct me if i'm wrong, but it appears MS retains full > control over the format. Most "standards" are developed by a committee of > organizations each with their own interest in the direction of the > standard. Everything is then overseen by an organization such as ICANN, > IEEE, ANSI, ISO, etc. > > I don't see this with MS. They can and probably will change the > "standard" at will to keep competitors at bay and always playing > catch-up. I doubt the standard is 100% documented, and wouldn't surprise > me if their own products didn't follow their own standards. With their > history of intentionally breaking standards, anti-competitive practices, > and talk of the "disease" of open-source, how can MS be trusted to > sincerely provide an Open Document format for the benefit of everyone? > > > ray > > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > [email protected] > http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net > >
