[Linux-aus] Standards Australia's letter to JTC1 about ECMA 376

[James Purser]

On Thu, 2007-02-15 at 10:41 +1100, Jonathan Oxer wrote:
> Hi LA,
> 
> Below is an email forwarded to me by Dan Shearer about a request from
> Standards Australia for "technical expert" input into Microsoft's
> application for fast-track ratification of the "Office Open XML" format.
> 
> What? Microsoft wants ratification of Open Office's XML-based document
> format as a standard? No, read it again: that's *not* the OOo / ODT
> format! It's just another of their "muddying the waters" moves: dress up
> the next version of .DOC with a name that's confusingly similar to ODT,
> then get it ratified as a standard to bypass all the recent "we'll only
> allow ratified standard document format" policies being introduced
> around the world to allow entry of ODT into government departments.
> 
> Standards Australia looks to be very much on our side with this issue
> but they need our help. They're objecting to the fast-track proposal and
> requesting clarification on a number of points, so this is our chance to
> submit expert testimony to support Standards Australia's objections.
> 
> If open formats are as important to you as open source then please
> contact Standards Australia and offer your input into Microsoft's
> application. There's not much time because Microsoft requested a
> fast-track process (I wonder why?) when they submitted the 6000 page
> application for assessment.
> 
> OK people. You know what to do. Sic em!
> 
> Cheers   :-)
> 
> Jonathan Oxer
> +61 3 9723 9399

Just thought I would point everyone to this blog post:

http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/ooxml/index.html

There seems to be a movement towards rejecting MS's standard.
-- 
James Purser
Producer/Presenter
Open Source On The Air
http://www.localfoss.org
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