Again, this stuff needs to be said. Too many people are willing to believe the best in spite of the track record. Think of the Gingerbread Man ... ;-)
Dave Lane wrote: > Hello Mike, > > Mike Cochrane wrote: > >> Microsoft have released the specifications for their binary file formats: >> http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/officebinaryformats.mspx >> > > Comments to this article on Microsoft's own Brian Jones' blog > http://blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones/archive/2008/02/15/binary-documentation-doc-xls-ppt-and-translator-project-site-are-now-live.aspx > indicate that this is an incomplete specification, i.e. insufficient for > anyone to create actual interoperability with MS Office. Others refer > to the OOXML "standard", which has now been discredited as being > un-usable. Microsoft, themselves, say that they'll support ODF before > they can support OOXML. > > http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/05/21/Microsoft-to-support-ODF-PDF-in-Office_1.html > > As I understand it, the specs that were released (extremely grudgingly) > were only made available to fulfil penalty requirements by the European > Union's finding against Microsoft regarding their anti-competitive > business practices. > > >> Which are covered by the Microsoft Open Specification Promise: >> http://www.microsoft.com/interop/osp/default.mspx >> > > The Microsoft OSP is not considered suitable protection for developers. > The big question: why didn't they simply use the already widely > accepted GPL (General Public License)? That would've made everyone > happy. The fact that they didn't is proof enough that they've got their > own agenda (i.e. it's a scam). But don't just take my word for it: > > Another Reason Microsoft's OSP Isn't Good Enough - > http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080326151405938 > > Verdict In: Microsoft OSP Is No GPL > http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/26000 > > Microsoft OSP is a pie crust promise > http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=2125 > > Microsoft's Open Specification Promise: No Assurance for GPL > http://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2008/osp-gpl.html > > Not exactly fringe opinions... > > Dave > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
