Bonum Certa Men Certa

Signs of Progress for OpenDocument Format, Microsoft-imposed Disinformation Abound

When failing handle the truth, Microsoft generates lies

A variety of reports seem to indicate that ODF, which Microsoft and its partner Novell have turned their back on, will sustain its great momentum. Adding to examples or case studies that were shared earlier today, here are some more signs of progress, only to be hindered by more dishonesty from Microsoft's direction.

More ODF Support from the Industry



There are many existing examples of ODF support in a variety of software (e.g. this one) and these examples did not involve payments, contracts and other forms of persuasion (incentives) which are always found in Microsoft's case (OOXML support is typically paid for). Here is yet another example for one's consideration.

To use EditGrid, you need only a broadband Internet connection and a Web browser that supports JavaScript. You must sign up for a free account, which is quick and painless. You can upload existing spreadsheet files up to 2MB (8MB in the paid service) created in Excel, OpenDocument, Lotus 1-2-3, or certain other formats.


Denmark Delivers a Mouthful



Moving on in a similar direction, consider this great find. It is a study about the cost of OpenOffice.org deployments, conducted by the Copenhagen Business School. A rough translation is summarised thusly:

"The total TCO for implementing OpenOffice.org at Klaksvík hospital ... OpenOffice.org results in a cost reduction of 24 % ... The total TCO for implementing OpenOffice.org at Landssjúkrahúsið ... OpenOffice.org results in a cost reduction of 67 % ... The total TCO for implementing OpenOffice.org LandsNet (the entire public sector) ... OpenOffice.org results in a cost reduction of 91 %."


Sadly enough, Erwin has also pointed out some remarks from Michael Silver, who is a close friend of Microsoft wearing the bogus hat of an 'analyst'. We wrote about Silver before, the context being OOXML.

Also from Denmark [via Andy Updegrove], consider this new bit.

Evaluation of Ten Standard Setting Organizations with Regard to Open Standards. Edited by Per Andersen. Prepared by IDC for the Danish National IT and Telecom Agency (NITA). An April 03, 2008 press release from the the Danish National IT and Telecom Agency (IT- og Telestyrelsen) announced the publication of a 92-page report titled "Evaluation of Ten Standard Setting Organizations with Regard to Open Standards."

[...]

The definition of "open standards" was specified to consist of three criteria: (1) The standard is fully documented and accessible by public [Open documentation]; (2) The standard should be free to implement without economical, political or legal restictions -- now as well as in the future [Open IPR, Open access, Open interoperability]; (3) The standard is managed and maintained in an open forum through an open process [Open meeting; Consensus; Due process; Open change; Ongoing standards support]...


Again, the presence of IDC should be discomforting because this is the same firm that once produced a document formats 'study' upon Microsoft's request, using Microsoft funding [1, 2]. Guess whose favour it worked in?

“It's one of the most dishonest industries out there, least honest bar lobbyists perhaps.”These invest-to-generate-report firms ought to be taken with a barrel of salt, especially as they tend to conceal funding sources (at least sometimes). It's one of the most dishonest industries out there, least honest bar lobbyists perhaps. Sadly enough, the Linux Foundation invited Al Gillen from IDC, who is at the moment spouting out mixed messages at the annual summit. When will people learn?

Microsoft's Open Confusion



The other day we mentioned the possible sneaky moves by Microsoft against IBM. Among many known maneuvers, more recently Microsoft was seen wrongly transforming this document formats battle from "Microsoft against everyone else" to "Microsoft against IBM" (vendor versus vendor). What was the impact on perception? Just have a look:

Rival formats leave software makers in a fix

This battle for the software market pitches Microsoft, the world’s largest software company against another American computer firm IBM. Microsoft is competing in the software market with its Office OpenXML (OOXML) while IBM has the Open Document Format (ODF).


Can you see what's wrong with this picture? This case of misguidance is Microsoft imposed. This misleading statement appears in here also. It's an identical article, but it comes to show you just how quickly the big lie spreads.

Speaking of misguidance, remember the use of "porn spam techniques" against document freedom (further complaints about it in [1, 2])? It was intended to have people believe that document freedom was all about OOXML. It was a case of hijacking a very special day.

Well, guess what? Microsoft now has this thing called "Open Source Day". No kidding. And the dilution of the term continues. Someone ought to police this. With Open Office XML [sic], Microsoft has already hijacked just about everything it can, leading to confusion. Asking it politely to withdraw has never proven effective.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Our Three Lawsuits Against Microsofters Are About to Become a Lot More Relevant to GNU/Linux
The Master will easily understand why Garrett has been attacking me since 2012
Slop Is Not Intelligence and It Does Not Enhance Productivity
Like voice dictation, which cannot tell the difference between "sheet" and "shit"
 
Microsoft is Trying to "Pull a Nokia" on GNU/Linux as Desktop/Laptop Platform
We all remember that rather well, don't we?
LLM Slopfarms gbhackers.com, "Cyber Press" and CyberSecurityNews Are Drowning Google News (and Shame on Google for Feeding and Facilitating Them)
All are run by the same people
Links 23/07/2025: Droplets GUI Patent Monopoly Challenge, Nokia Leverages Illegal Patent Court Against Rivals
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Community in Geminispace and Challenges With Old Computers
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2025: Slop Patents Tackled, Slop Copyright Misuses Tackled by Politicians
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2025: Retreating From Transparency on Jeffrey Epstein, We No Longer Have Press Freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Piano and Food
Links for the day
New and Old
On Ageism in Tech
EPO Crimes Are Spreading to the British Court System
Society is now paying the price for failing to tackle crimes at the EPO
It's Time to Dump SharePoint and Here's What to Use Instead
Nextcloud, ownCloud, Bookstack, MediaWiki, and MediaGoblin
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Has Gone Silent
Sometimes silence says more than nothing at all
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Planet Ubuntu, and LinuxTechLab
some slopfarms show no remorse and they don't value their reputation at all
Links 23/07/2025: Book Bans, Storms, and Kangaroo Court for Patents Commits More Unlawful Acts of Overreach
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: Thinkpad and Pinephone
Links for the day
Links 22/07/2025: "Blog Restart" and Microsoft Clobbered by “ToolShell"
Links for the day
Global Warming and Global GAFAM Energy-Wasting
Burn more money (borrowed, loans), then hope the waste will somehow translate into profit?
No Compliance With the European Patent Convention (EPC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)
It's about preventing competition against this autocracy
Blue-Collar Trolls vs White-Collar Trolls
Examples of white-collar trolls
Apple Vision Pro Failed So Badly That Its Sales Are About 2,000 Times Smaller Than iPhone Sales
What's left for Apple to offer other than hype?
To Millions of People "Year of the Linux Desktop" Was Some Time in the 1990s (Bootable GNU/Linux as a Complete Operating System is Over 33 in Age)
In some sense, "year of the Linux desktop" was 33 years ago
Make No Assumptions (or Demands) About the Screen Resolution Used by Other People
There are usability aspects, aside from accessibility aspects
Why Wayland (and XWayland) Won't Solve the Key Problem It Proclaims to be Tackling (the Same Is True for Rust)
The problem isn't Wayland per se but the false promises and efforts to force everybody to move to it whilst insulting or demonising everyone who won't play along
They Don't Tell Us that 'Digitalisation' (Now Sold as "Hey Hi") Just Means Customers Become Unpaid Staff and Are Made Accountable
People are being conditioned to associate technology with something undesirable, at times even unbearable
Diplomatic Immunity Should Not Exist for Anybody
The EPO in its current form gradually 'normalises' the end of European democracy
Brett Wilson LLP Stopped Sending Me Papers When I Showed It had Sent Me Over 5 Kilograms of Legal Papers
A week ago we lodged our third lawsuit
Microsoft Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns Became the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft mass layoffs became a topic of everyday media coverage since May
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Has Layoffs and Microsoft Gaming/Entertainment Division Has an Uncertain Future
it's good to see all those horrible things crashing and burning
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day
LLM Bots vs Techrights
Slows things down a bit
New Publication Sheds Lights on Abuse of Workers at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Put in simple terms, they're killing the Office, harming remaining staff, try to hire rubber-stampers
Links 21/07/2025: Hardware, Health, and Imperialism
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/07/2025: "When Buying Isn't Owning" and "CMS Special Edition"
Links for the day
Links 21/07/2025: Indie Web and Toxic Politics
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsoft Lawyers Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
threatened me with bankruptcy
Google "AI Overview" is Not AI and Not Overview
do not be misled; what Google does isn't smart, it's just ripping off the sites it already crawled for as long as 27 years
Making the Case to Dump Microsoft and GAFAM for National and Digital Sovereignty
"Sovereignty is difficult"
The Tactics of the Opposition (Microsoft Lunduke): Associate With K00ks, Throw in Vaccines to Muddy the Water
Who stands to gain from this?
Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) and Largest Patent Monopoly Office Needs More Transparency, Not Less Transparency
In the EPO, what good are elections when one candidate literally bribes all the voters?
How Not to Report News About Microsoft
This pattern of misreporting is so widespread that it's hard to believe it's not intentional
Computer Science is Under Attack, They Want Everyone to be a Consumer
If people can no longer acquire Computer Science education and real Computer Science experience, they will not know how to control their own digital destiny or emancipate the very same universities that now control the syllabus and instead of teaching Computer Science encourage the outsourcing of systems
The Best Tools Are the Simplest Tools
There's a hidden message here about the merits of sticking with X
Ofcom Online Safety Group Speaks of Protecting Women Online, Will Brett Wilson LLP Ever Listen?
They've essentially became like the Taliban's "burka police"
Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
In Defence of "Spinning Rust"
Just because something is "old" (or older) doesn't mean it ought to become extinct
Using Free Software to Prepare Legal Documents
LibreOffice is openly complaining about OOXML as an obstacle
Tech and Technology Are Not the Same Anymore
"Are you into tech, Sir?"
Our Articles About SLAPPs Receive Recognition and Interest
This week we shall continue writing about the 3 lawsuits we filed