On Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 8:12 PM, Peter Plug <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > doesn't it mean therefore that OpenOffice, Google Docs, iWork and > > everybody else now can now parse Microsoft Office formats much better? > > > > Not quite.. The OOXML spec is deliberately designed to be difficult to > implement unless you are a big software company based in redmond. Actually, > there is still no existing implementation of OOXML in any platform
True! In fact, even Microsoft has yet to fully implement the ECMA-standard OOXML. > > That OO and the rest have no excuse anymore not to be able to render > > properly data from .doc, xls, .ppt to say their own native file formats? > > > > Again, not quite.. the published specifications are incomplete. The legal > rights to use are unclear Yes, as they say - DO NOT TRUST MICROSOFT's covenant not to sue! Until Microsoft releases (frees up) its proprietary file formats since Office 1997, no one will be able to create a fully compliant OOXML application except Microsoft. > > and if say I (or anybody else for that matter) would like to write an > > App that reads/writes MSOffice format... i can now do so without any > > problem or worry the big bad wolf from redmond would rain holy hell on > > my house because they've has "opened" the standard up. that the > > landscape is now fair game for every developer in the world. > > > > Read more about the standard and you will see that the picture you described > is what MS wants the rest of the world to believe... The real picture is > very different from what you described above Yes, it is very much different! The standard is OPEN but the components that make it are not. > By the way, Congratulations to Microsoft for destroying the reputation of > ISO as an organization, the standardization process, and the Philippine > Bureau of Standards as well. I think 80 million Filipinos deserve a much > more open and free document format than what ISO just approved. > > Microsoft may have won this battle but the war is far from over.... It may be a small thing for us in PLUG to issue a public statement about OOXML but believe me, it will go a long way. BTW, where is PLUG in the BPS deliberations? Microsoft was all over the place! Cheers! _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
