I wonder if there's any Software Freedom Day here before or not.
On 6/29/07, Joel Wiramu Pauling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007, Maung Myat Thu @ Billy Aung Myint wrote: > On Fri, 2007-06-29 at 20:26 +0800, Joel Wiramu Pauling wrote: > > On Fri, 29 Jun 2007, Maung Myat Thu @ Billy Aung Myint wrote: > > > On Fri, 2007-06-29 at 17:16 +0800, Joel Wiramu Pauling wrote: > > > > On Fri, 29 Jun 2007, Anton wrote: > > > > > I think OpenOffice can open/save both formats. It also has been > > > > > released (alpha?) for Mac OS X recently. Correct me if I'm wrong. > > > > > There are also plugins > > > > > (http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter/ , etc) to help you. > > > > > > > > > > > > I currently work in a Institute of Higher Learning in > > > > > > > Singapore, and my wife works in another one here too. In hers, > > > > > > > the school has standardized > > > > > > > > > > > > > > on Office 2007 and everyone uses the new DOCX, PPTX formats. > > > > > > > Problem is, for part-timers like my wife, who is using a Mac, > > > > > > > not everyone can open the new files, even when using older MS > > > > > > > Office suites. My wife uses the Office 2004 for Mac suite on > > > > > > > her PowerBook, and is unable to open any Office2007 files. This > > > > > > > is incredibly frustrating. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thankfully, I was able to open the DOCX files using NeoOffice, > > > > > > > but PPTX remains un-openable (is there such a word?). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > How do others on this list feel about this? MOE in Singapore is > > > > > > > very pro-Microsoft, and this is not always a good thing for > > > > > > > those using alternative operating systems. I feel quite > > > > > > > repulsed as a consumer, as we are being forced to upgrade to > > > > > > > Office 2007 just to be able to open the new file formats. > > > > > > > > My question is why is there not more active participation at a policy > > > > level from advocacy groups here? I am new to Singapore, but am fairly > > > > versed in how the country runs. Decisions such as supporting vendor > > > > specific > > > > implementations should be a public open process. Has anyone on this > > > > list or involved with the OSS community in SG ever tried submitting > > > > open letters etc. I would be very interested to hear experiences. > > > > > > Harish has , on many occasions , voiced out about this issue on the > > > Straits Times Forum. > > > > > > http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2006/04/opendocument-format-benefits. > > >html > > > > > > This is one link I could find from google .. I am sure there are more. > > > > > > regards > > > billy > > > > My query is more on a 'organised professional' entity level, rather than > > the single voice level. I.e In New Zealand the Open Source Society has > > successfully defeated Microsoft patent application for ODOC, and has > > informed policy wording on a number of occasions. Normally with backing > > from other community groups (such as Lugs, and Businesses which use FOSS) > > > > I am just curious if there are NPO's in sing doing the same. > > > > Does Singapore have a Digital Strategy Document, NZ government made one > > a couple of years ago, and while not going so far as to define file > > formats, make a number of mandates about accessibility and future > > compatibility. Both for Internal and External government agency practice. > > I was somewhat involved in parts of this so am curious what (if anything) > > Singapore has done. > > I am more curious on how New Zealand Open Source Society Defeated > Microsoft patent application for ODOC. How was it done? > > regards > billy > Really? Pretty simply really... When patents are submitted there is a public disclosure period where parties can submit comments/objections etc... we just stepped in there. There is plenty of prior art (Abiword being one of the main sources... it has used an XML based file format for a LONG time). And the fact it had either been rejected or not even considered patentable in many parts of the world also added to the cause. more general nzoss stuff at: http://www.nzoss.org.nz/ There was alot of coverage in the media, here's one http://www.linux.org/news/2006/08/30/0003.html On a related note, is anyone on list planing anything for software freedom day. I ran the Wellington event last year, and am keen to do some fairly informal publicity awareness bits while I am here. I am sounding like a fanatic I know, but i'm not really... I am 100% more interested in using the stuff than advocating it... but if the business environment is either ignorant or hostile then I can't do that ;-) Kind regards JoelW _______________________________________________ Slugnet mailing list [email protected] http://www.lugs.org.sg/mailman/listinfo/slugnet
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