[Aslug] ASLUG Meeting : Wed 17 March

[Adrian Casey]

Greetings all.

I recently read an article in Linux Journal about the OASIS project 
(http://www.oasis-open.org/home/index.php).  OASIS is about developing open 
standards for e-business.  For example, they have a standard relating to word 
processing documents, spread sheets and presentations.  The key idea is that 
freedom does not come from open applications - all they do is allow 
convenient conversion from one proprietary format to another.  True freedom 
will come from open document definition standards.  If you would like to 
manipulate a spreadsheet using sed and awk why shouldn't you?  XML is the 
enabling technology here.  

It looks like OpenOffice, KOffice, Siag and Abiword are all going to 
eventually adopt the OASIS document standard.  This will be a good thing as 
it will mean you can use whatever tool you want to create your documents.  
After all, we use our own favourite editor to create ASCII text docs and web 
pages, so why not enjoy the same freedom across all office documents?

What will open information storage standards mean to you?

See you at the meeting.

-- 
Cheers.
Adrian Casey.
Alice Springs Linux User Group
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