Norway's computer experts protesting OOXML - < http://www.gmanews.tv/story/88536/Computer-experts-protest-vs-Microsoft-document-format-as-standard >. Whilst the Philippines claim that the process is transparent, it is not transparent enough. We need to know details as to who sent 10 comments in favor, publish the contents of the ISO letter stating that all 7 points have been resolved, etc.
Now, I am waiting for PLUG's official statement. == The Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) has said that its evaluation of a Microsoft-backed open document format for possible certification as an international standard was a "transparent process" done in consultation with private and public sector representatives. The BPS is the government agency designated to represent the country at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which recently announced <http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1123>that Microsoft's Office Open XML file format had received the necessary votes to qualify as an ISO standard. BPS director Jesus Motoomull said in a telephone interview that the agency created a technical committee led by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to address seven technical comments that had initially led to a "no" vote with comments by the Philippines. The country, through the BPS, eventually voted "yes" based on a consensus gathered from the members of the technical committee led by the CICT, he said. "It was not just a BPS vote," Motoomull said, as he reiterated that the BPS has always voted based on consensus from local stakeholders<http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080402-127916/RP-votes-for-choice-in-Open-XML-debate>. He denied that Microsoft had any influence on the agency's vote. "We didn't decide on our own. We got help from the technical committee. The basis [for the vote] is the technical committee's expert opinion. We relied heavily on the technical committee," he added. Motoomull said the technical committee led by CICT had 15 members. A majority recommended that the country change its vote from a "no with comments" to "yes" after the ISO technical committee addressed the issues that had earlier been raised. University of the Philippines Department of Computer Science professor Prospero Naval, however, was not satisfied with the way the country changed its vote. "There were a lot of things that were not addressed," said Naval who was a member of a technical committee led by CICT. He was among those who voted against the Open XML format. Naval stressed that while he is not against Microsoft, he wants the BPS to explain how they changed their vote. "I will accept a 'yes' vote but they should show me the proof. BPS did not explain that," he said. "If the seven comments were addressed, why don't they publish it? They should be open to the public," he said. Open XML is a standard format that has replaced the old binary-based format used by Microsoft for its Office suite of applications: Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Using the binary format, documents or files are coded to be read only by Microsoft Office applications. Open XML, however, replaces this, and uses an open standard (XML) that can now be opened and manipulated by applications supporting the new format. "When we voted initially on the Open XML, we voted 'no' with comments because there were some comments," Motoomull said. These comments were later sent to an ISO technical committee to inform the body of the country's concerns. The ISO technical committee eventually sent back a reply to the BPS, and informed the agency that six of the seven technical comments had been addressed. Motoomull said that since the evaluation of Open XML standard was quite "technical," the feedback from the ISO was given to the technical committee led by CICT for review. Before the March 29 deadline, Motoomull said that the seventh technical concern was addressed. BPS sent its "yes" vote to ISO on March 28. "We forwarded our vote to the ISO Technological Management Board committee," he said. Motoomull said that there were other sectors not part of the technical committee who have submitted their position papers to BPS. "There were 19 official letters supporting Open XML, and nine opposing it," he said.
_________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
