"Open Source"-ization

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OOXML revolt brewing? Three countries appeal ISO approval

India, Brazil, and South Africa are attempting to appeal ISO's fast-track approval of Microsoft's controversial Office Open XML (OOXML) format. The organizations representing those countries in ISO complain of process irregularities, lack of inclusiveness during meetings and debates, and insufficient time to address all of the issues and concerns raised by participants during the review process.

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One of Obama's first executive acts may be to standardize all Federal offices to OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice is free, robust, stable and more than sufficient for 99 percent of government work. If any particular government office requires Microsoft Office, they'll be able to purchase it -- after explaining in a few sentences why OpenOffice is insufficient for their needs.

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Adobe Releases PDF Copyright to ISO

Adobe has released their previously-proprietary PDF format to ISO, clearing the way for standardization and making it an open format.

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IBM VP: Office OpenXML a dead end, Microsoft will back ODF
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I asked Sutor if he thinks that the murky OOXML process will lead to uncertainty about standards in general. He doesn't accept that possibility and argued instead that the widespread public scrutiny received by OOXML is a sign that people are beginning to care deeply about open standards. He says that the extensive mainstream press coverage and public discussion about the OOXML decision helped to boost the visibility of ODF and increase awareness of standards-based technology.

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Microsoft wins ISO standard
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The International Organisation for Standardisation said that moves by pro-open document lobby failed to get any support and the Office Open XML format should be considered an open standard. This is an important a requirement for many lucrative government contracts.

Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela complained that an international ballot held in April was poorly conducted and rushed them into a decision based on incomplete information. It will take several weeks before OOXML officially becomes an international standard.

It is now fairly certain that the two standards will compete for the hearts and minds of government contract departments. One wonders why this would be a bad thing. As it stands the OpenDocument format ISO is a better standard and less clunky than OpenXML.