Bonum Certa Men Certa

ISO Reform Demanded, OpenISO Formed by Norbert Bollow (Updated)

Having witnessed a great deal of corruption, some people decided that it was time to give the ISO a lesson. Microsoft had people lose trust in their authorities, which were often 'bought', and the OSI's reputation took a dive as the impact of the complaints grew. Norbert Bollow seems to have given up on (a reform in) the ISO. He started his own project, which he calls OpenISO.

What do engineers do when they observe a problem? They start a project to fix it. A Swiss standard expert who got annoyed by the "Open XML bug" of ISO procedures launched OpenISO.org.


[sarcasm]Since we already have an OpenSUSE, how about an OpenNovell? [/sarcasm] Meanwhile, an open letter to ISO was dispatched as well. From the letter:

Norway - originally a process decided by unanimity but altered on the fly Sweden - voting seats bought and the result thus hijacked Switzerland - process rigged in favor of the vendor, the chairman excluded the option of voting “reject” or “reject, with comments” Portugal - process skewed by blaming on lack of available chairs Malaysia - two committees voted unanimously “rejection with comments” and mysteriously overturned by the government to “abstain”


OOXML in Malaysia, India, and Large Nations



With so much going on around the world simultaneously, we have not covered this last story about Malaysia (cited in the open letter above). The only time that we mentioned Malaysia, we pointed out Malaysia's selection and embrace of ODF.

"3.2 billion people voted 'No' on OOXML"One other country whose decision remained curious is India. We had to carefully check and see what India did at the end. Days after it's "No" decision (and just before the final vote), Microsoft unloaded a lot of 'charity' money onto the government. This triggered an orange light. India, being a large country, was an important voter to Microsoft. China and Brazil also. Remember that at the end, despite Microsoft's attempt to hijack votes (sometimes resorting to bribery), 3.2 billion people voted 'No' on OOXML as a fast-tracked ISO standard. Fast-tracked or not, even our favourite Microsoft apologist believes that OOXML will continues to fail its approval attempts.

"I don't believe the votes are later going to go in the other direction," said Zemlin in an interview. Zemlin is sometimes criticized within Linux ranks for his repeated admonition that Microsoft must be respected as a competitor. But he was unsparing in his assessment of the ISO fast track outcome.


Spillover



Another article of interest uses this somewhat political analogy to talk about OOXML.

Making just as many headlines as George Bush's travelling circus has been Microsoft's failed attempt to fast-track its OOXML document format to the status of an ISO standard.

Both these events have been annoying and pointless. Neither has done anything but generate a huge amount of FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt).


In case you wish to point out the technical flaws of OOXML (never mind 'politics' and corruption) , be aware that Stephane has finally tidied up his long essay.

Update: here is another new article about the failures in the ISO.

If the ISO ignores the need for a reform, it will be rendered irrelevant. A single company was able to corrupt it using some criminal minds. Microsoft craves ISO certification and ISO's blessing because more and more governments adopt policies that require open standard for successful procurement. The same goes for OSI, which explains Microsoft's motives in that other department.

These malicious plans had the ISO impose no penalty or resort to any intervention. This resulted in no litigation and severe punishment, despite antitrust laws. There is evidence to suggest that the ISO was biased in favour of Microsoft. Microsoft says it was all within the rules, but bribery (as in Sweden) is NOT within the rules. There are many other examples where rules (even laws) were broken. Enough solid evidence is also available to back this.

To summarise, there appear to be at least two vectors of response at the moment:

  1. The 'replace' solution. One is OpenISO, established by one who was betrayed in Switzerland.


  2. The 'fix' solution. The second is the Open Letter, which points out incidents of corruption.


The ISO would be hard to tame. Just like nations that accepted Microsoft bribery (in one form or another, or contrariwise -- extortion), the ISO appears to be moved by Microsoft's manipulative hand. In other words, there is direct impact as well.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
 
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025