11.12.07
OpenDocument ‘Traitors’ Group is Out, Belgium is In
Good things come in pairs
Some encouraging news from KDE turf: Belgium is apparently entering the world of ODF.
Like South Africa Adopts ODF, German Foreign Office comes out in favor of ODF and there are various articles going over how Holland and Belgium are steadilly switching governments but also schools over to ODF.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest foes of ODF (as of late) is finally saying farewell. This was expected because several weeks ago I was told that their ODF membership was due to expire (and not be renewed) in December. Gary told me this. That was before the OpenDocument Foundation began to attack ODF in the press. Can you now see the point and understand that it was a case of “nothing to lose” and a self-serving stunt?
Open Document Foundation closes up shop
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Not everyone who was a Foundation member agreed with this decision. For example, open source developers and ODF supporters David Wheeler and Bruce D’Arcus seeing the Foundation’s new direction, left the Foundation and are continuing to support ODF.
So there you have it. Parts of the Foundation contradict its remainder.
My personal relationship with the Foundation is complex and so is everybody else’s. There is a long and recent thread in LXer which discusses the OpenDocument Foundation and why there was no immediate rebuttal to their actions. My comments are there and just to quote a few bits:
There’s a lot to say (and been said), but only the Foundation keeps repeating and repeating [their arguments] . See Rob Weir’s item.
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The quiet (Groklaw/Andy/Sutor) has in part been an attempt to avoid giving attention (never mind notoriety, which still gives visibility) to the Group o’ Three.
It now seems like the better option is the extinguish the fire.
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…that’s because Chris (the talk-to-man for CDF) has just extinguished the fire the Foundation had started.
About the passive take that Boycott Novell has taken, here is what I said:
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I sent Rob’s item for inclusion in News Picks and PJ /did/ mention (to use your own word) “how small and insignificant they are and not to be taken seriously.” It was there, just not as another, separate article.
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Some of these people are like (former?) friends of ours (I’m not directly associated with anyone, but neither is the ‘Foundation’). To use an analogy, when an animal gets too hungry (e.g. for funds), it can attack its own kind.
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Smear campaign and personal attacks are always hard. Can you imagine the backlash you beg for when spilling the beans on people you once knew? You’d rather cite someone else (Rob in this case) than take the witch hat.
Hopefully this sums up the reasons why some people did not counter the Foundation immediately after it had started spreading ODF FUD.
ODF is an excellent standard. Nothing has changed. ODF is for those who want openness and true interactions between applications. OOXML is for a single company that uses the power of money to push (even force) its agenda through the ISO.
