Bonum Certa Men Certa

Why ODF and Why Not OOXML

Novell seems to have already made up its mind. Since it is financially-dependent on Microsoft and its deal with Microsoft strictly requires it to become a slave of OOXML, Novell is a lost case. Fortunately, there is more to this world than companies that sell out, take a large bag of cash, and betray their suppliers (programmers).

Looking beyond Novell and other similar sellouts, let us consider reasons to shun OOXML. Erwin Tenhumberg wrote about elimination of the 'software tax', referring to the business model on which Microsoft Office and its siblings are based.

European governments, in particular, have spent billions of dollars every year in “software taxes” – in the form of licensing fees – all for the right to continue to use proprietary document formats that don’t allow implementation of alternative programs, and ultimately restrict access to government documents by citizens who do not have the licensed software. As a result, governments have been forced to continue using the same program, and in business, we call that a “barrier to exit.”

So, imagine receiving and opening a document, having the ability to read and edit that document, all from a program different from that in which it was created. Now imagine being able to send that document to anyone in the world. That is the goal of the OpenDocument Format (ODF).


Stephane has posted a very comprehensive technical breakdown of OOXML, showing how it breaks down (literally almost, with "self-exploding" spreadsheets).

The Microsoft Office product team rationale for designing such a poorly engineered file format known as OOXML is that, according to public statements they made, they do this not because they want to advance the state of the art in Office document models, but rather because they have to bring the two-decade worth of legacy and bugged if not broken features into the future.

They have a commercial reason to do so. According to their numbers, there is a 400,000,000 user install base. But with the introduction of the new file format OOXML and the accompanying application that they rushed out the door in order to ship in line with Windows Vista, is it true that Office 2007 is Microsoft's best thing since sliced bread when it comes to compatibility?


Steve Ballmer on ODFEveryone attending the BRM in Geneva, including the many Microsoft employees, clueless proxies and business partners, ought to read this in order to find out what it is that they actually vote on. Clearly, the meeting will be very political, so all these inconvenient technical truths will not bother many of the attendants who are there to slow down the momentum of ODF (that's just what OOXML is all about).

If case you do not know why the BRM in Geneva is misguided, read our previous posts [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. It's looking like another sellout, just like in Novell's case. Here is a portion of a good comment which says why OOXML sets a bad example. This portion refers not to ethics and technical matters, but to seemingly-criminal activities that were (and still are) involved in the process.

If the way Microsoft did business is very good, right, and moral, then why not teach this to our kids in our schools? Lacking in creativity? getting bad grades? Pay off your teacher. Buy your way through school through manipulation, power, and influence. Isn't that what Microsoft has done in the real world, except they have bought their way through the government enough to dispell public scrutiny? If we let Microsoft do this, are we not doing our kids a disservice because we are not teaching them the way the world is? Maybe the correct way is not democracy, but to make as much money as possible, any way you can, buying your way through life, and forgetting people who have less power than you?


A lot more damning evidence and stories will be posted throughout the week of the BRM.

"It’s a Simple Matter of [Microsoft’s] Commercial Interests!"

--Senior Microsoft Rep about OOXML

Recent Techrights' Posts

Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims of says can be trusted
su lisa && rm -rf /home/ibm/power
Novell was ruined by another person from IBM, Ronald Hovsepian
A Record Demand at Microsoft: Demand to Cancel
What we're witnessing is a very ungraceful destruction of XBox
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 02, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 02, 2025
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Google News, and LinuxSecurity
They carry on polluting the Web with fake articles
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: Kubernetes With FreeBSD and robots.txt
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: 'Open' 'AI' Resorting to Gimmicks and Fake Funding, Europe’s ‘Drone Wall’ Discussed
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: Brave Passes 100M Users Milestone, Kodak Selling Its Own Film Again
Links for the day
Microsoft is Losing Europe
Hence all the "support" and "discount" offers that are limited to Europe
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October