08.15.07

Gemini version available ♊︎

Are Real Standards Hard to Come By When Money is Involved? (Updated)

Posted in Australia, Formats, Free/Libre Software, FUD, GNU/Linux, Marketing, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Open XML, Patents, Standard at 10:53 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Expensive formats backed by wealthy corporations and their affiliates

It has become amusing (if not outright annoying) to see the extent to which Microsoft is willing to bend the rules using ridiculous excuses, spin doctors, and bullies. The endless spin will surely continue, so it’s important to identify, rebut, and contradict. Here is more of the latest:

I guess a dedicated Microsoftie could spin this in a positive way (rah! rah! 100% growth in DOCX format in three months), but it is getting harder.

Microsoft has always been particularly strong in the marketing department. Sometimes, marketing became akin to propaganda. A little bit of sabotage was sometimes needed in order to sell inferior products. Some say that things have never truly changed.

After some possible misconduct in Australia, Groklaw called for Australians to get involved. Elsewhere on the Web, Bob Sutor posted a very elaborate blog post (which is a rarity) to explain the importance of the quality of standards.

What would it possibly mean for something to be a “one star standard” versus something that is a “five star standard”?

As argued many times before, Microsoft says that interoperability is facilitated by OOXML, which is merely a proprietary set wrapped in an XML ‘gown’, but it does not say much about patents. Microsoft hopes that nobody will notice that issue until it’s too late to retract. OOXML is one such bait among several others.

That brings a fair bit of focus back to Novell, which is now facing a conflict of interests. Novell sort of believes it has itself protected, having just taken Microsoft money to jeopardise other Linux distributors. These distributors used to share the same goals and ambitions (assuming that everyone will be playing by the same rules). Novell let a Trojan horse enter Linux and spread various patent-encumbered technologies around core GNU/Linux packages or inside Free software that distributions depend on. We consider this to be a serious issue.

Update: The New Zealand Open Source Society has published a submission to warn about a looming OOXML patent threat. It is one among several angles that explain why OOXML is a terrible idea.

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Microsoft Has Also Infiltrated the OSI's Board of Directors After Rigged Elections

    Weeks ago we warned that this would happen and for the third or fourth time in 2 years the OSI’s election process broke down; today the Open Source Initiative (OSI) writes: “The polls just closed, the results are in. Congratulations to the returning directors Aeva Black…” (Microsoft employee)



  2. Links 22/03/2023: Official Thunderbird Podcast Starts

    Links for the day



  3. IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 21, 2023

    IRC logs for Tuesday, March 21, 2023



  4. Many More Microsoft Layoffs Later Today

    Yesterday we shared rumours about Microsoft layoffs being planned for later today (there were 3 waves of layoffs so far this year). There are several more people here who say the same. How much noise will Microsoft make in the “media” in order to distract? Will the chaffbot "ChatGPT" help create enough chaff?



  5. Links 21/03/2023: JDK 20 and GNOME 43.5

    Links for the day



  6. Germany's Lobbyists-Infested Government Sponsors the War on Ukraine via the European Patent Office (EPO)

    The chief UPC ‘judge’ is basically seeking to break the law (and violate constitutions, conventions etc.) to start a kangaroo court while dodging real courts, just like Vladimir Putin does



  7. [Meme] The Meme That Team UPC (the Collusion to Break the European Laws, for Profit) Threats to Sue Us For

    António Campinos and Team UPC are intimidating people who simply point out that the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is illegal and Klaus Grabinksi, shown above, strives to head a de facto kangaroo court in violation of constitutions and conventions (the UK does not and cannot ratify; Ireland hasn’t even held a referendum on the matter)



  8. Microsoft is Sacking People Every Month This Year, Even Managers (While Sponsored Media Produces Endless Chatbot Chaff)

    Lots of Microsoft layoffs lately and so-called ‘journalists’ aren’t reporting these; they’re too busy running sponsored puff pieces for Microsoft, usually fluff along the “hey hi” (AI) theme



  9. 3 Months Late Sirius 'Open Source' Finally Deletes Us From the Fraudulent 'Meet the Team' Page (But Still Lists Many People Who Left Years Ago!)

    Amid fraud investigations the management of Sirius ‘Open Source’ finally removed our names from its “Meet the Team” page (months late); but it left in the page about half a dozen people who left the company years ago, so it’s just lying to its clients about the current situation



  10. Amid Fraud at Sirius 'Open Source' CEO Deletes His Recent (This Month) Past With the Company

    Not only did the Sirius ‘Open Source’ CEO purge all mentions of Sirius from his Microsoft LinkedIn account; he’s racing against the clock as crimes quickly become a legal liability



  11. Web Survey Shows Microsoft Falling Below 15% Market Share in Africa, Only One Minuscule African Nation Has Windows Majority

    A Web survey that measured Microsoft Windows at 97% in Africa (back in 2010) says that Windows has become rather small and insignificant; the Microsoft-sponsored mainstream media seems to be ignoring this completely, quite likely by intention...



  12. Rumours of More Microsoft Layoffs Tomorrow (Including Managers!), Probably Azure Again (Many Azure Layoffs Every Year Since 2020)

    Amazon is laying off AWS staff and Microsoft has been laying off Azure staff for 3 years already, including this year, so it seems like the “clown computing” bubble is finally bursting



  13. [Meme] EPO's Management Brainstorm

    The story behind a misleading slogan told above



  14. The Photo Ops Festival of the Funky President António Campinos and Revolt From the Patent Examiners Whom He Perpetually Oppresses

    European Patents are being granted for no reason other than application and renewal fees, awarding European monopolies to companies that aren't even European (only about a third are actually European); staff of the EPO is fed up as it regards or views all this as an extreme departure from the EPO's mission (and it's also outright illegal)



  15. Links 21/03/2023: Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0 LTS

    Links for the day



  16. Back Doors Proponent Microsoft Infiltrates Panels That Write the Security Regulations, Press Fails to Point Out the Obvious

    Cult tactics and classic entryism serve Microsoft again, stacking the panels and basically writing policy (CISA). As an associate explained it, citing this new example, Stanford “neglects to point out the obvious fact that Microsoft is writing its own regulations.”



  17. IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 20, 2023

    IRC logs for Monday, March 20, 2023



  18. Links 20/03/2023: Curl 8.0.0/1 and CloudStack 4.18.0.0 LTS

    Links for the day



  19. Standard Life (Phoenix Group Holdings): Three Weeks to Merely Start Investigating Pension Fraud (and Only After Repeated Reminders From the Fraud's Victims)

    As the phonecall above hopefully shows (or further elucidates), Standard Life leaves customers in a Kafkaesque situation, bouncing them from one person to another person without actually progressing on a fraud investigation



  20. Standard Life Paper Mills in Edinburgh

    Standard Life is issuing official-looking financial papers for companies that then use that paperwork to embezzle staff



  21. Pension Fraud Investigation Not a High Priority in Standard Life (Phoenix Group Holdings)

    The 'Open Source' company where I worked for nearly 12 years embezzled its staff; despite knowing that employees were subjected to fraud in Standard Life's name, it doesn't seem like Standard Life has bothered to investigate (it has been a fortnight already; no progress is reported by management at Standard Life)



  22. Links 20/03/2023: Tails 5.11 and EasyOS 5.1.1

    Links for the day



  23. Links 20/03/2023: Amazon Linux 2023 and Linux Kernel 6.3 RC3

    Links for the day



  24. IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 19, 2023

    IRC logs for Sunday, March 19, 2023



  25. An Update on Sirius 'Open Source' Pensiongate: It's Looking Worse Than Ever

    It's starting to look more and more like pension providers in the UK, including some very major and large ones, are aiding criminals who steal money from their workers under the guise of "pensions"



  26. Services and Users TRApped in Telescreen-Running Apps

    TRApp, term that lends its name to this article, is short for "Telescreen-Running App". It sounds just like "trap". Any similarity is not purely coincidental.



  27. Links 19/03/2023: Release of Libreboot 20230319 and NATO Expanding

    Links for the day



  28. Great Things Brewing

    We've been very busy behind the scenes this past week; we expect some good publications ahead



  29. Links 19/03/2023: LLVM 16.0.0 and EasyOS Kirkstone 5.1 Releases

    Links for the day



  30. IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 18, 2023

    IRC logs for Saturday, March 18, 2023


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts