Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Fights OpenOffice.org and ODF Using FUD, Technical Problems (Updated)

[Update (19/06/2008) : We have supplementary screenshots in this follow-up post.]

It is already known that Microsoft fought ODF like fire. It even ran a Get the Facts-type campaign against it. It's easily provable because it is all well documented.

In the IRC conversation below (a fragment from Monday), you will find some of the latest examples.




<Eruaran> Currently if you attempt to open a .odt document for example in Microsoft Word, you get assailed by dialogues that say the document is corrupted, asks you if you want to 'fix' it, and it insinuates you shouldn't trust it or the source it came from. <schestowitz> Remember DR-DOS? <Eruaran> I know there are many people who will think negatively about ODF because of this kind of flat out BS in Microsoft products. <Eruaran> yes <schestowitz> http://boycottnovell.com/2007/08/03/do-dos-odf-microsoft-sabotage/ <schestowitz> http://boycottnovell.com/comes-vs-microsoft/text/msg00083.html <schestowitz> http://www.boycottnovell.com/comes-vs-microsoft/text/msg00194.html <Eruaran> I love this one: "If Microsoft says you’ve got five fingers on each hand, many people will insist on an independent count." <schestowitz> Microsoft: "what the guy is supposed to do is feel uncomfortable, and when he has bugs, suspect that the problem is dr-dos and then go out and buy ms-dos, or decide not to take the risk for the other machines he has to buy for in the office." <Eruaran> Even if they tell the truth, nobody trusts them, such is their history and reputation. <Eruaran> yes, they are up to the same old tricks <schestowitz> "Concerns have been raised that DR-DOS incompatibilities and flaws are being overlooked by reviewers. [...] We recommend that we *informally* plant the bug of FUD in their ears. “Have you heard about problems with DR DOS?” <Eruaran> I decided to try and open an open document in Word one day just to see what happened... what I saw simply disgusted me. * PetoKraus (n=Peter@host-77-247-224-25.isper.sk) has joined #boycottnovell <Eruaran> Have you seen the clip on YouTube where a guy attempts to use Vista's voice regognition with OpenOffice ? <PetoKraus> :D <Eruaran> He tries it out with MS Word, then word pad and it all works fine <schestowitz> http://www.odfalliance.org/resources/BurtonGroupResponseFinal.pdf [PDF] (Microsoft's Burton puppet: "ODF is simplistic" (bad word). Beat in mind that Pete O'Kelly later had contracts with Microsoft. Lots of money. <Eruaran> Then he tries it with OpenOffice and Vista's speech recognition suddenly develops selective deafness and an inability to comprehend basic speech patterns. <PetoKraus> Eruaran: got vid? <PetoKraus> *link <schestowitz> Yes, please. <Eruaran> yes, just a sec PetoKraus (and hello) <PetoKraus> i'd even launch firefox to see that :) <schestowitz> That;s something to write about. Also your easrlier observation., <Eruaran> If you like I could take some screenshots tomorrow at work <Eruaran> of the dialogues MS Word gives you when you try to use and ODF document <schestowitz> Please do. The error message. I can make an Ogg from YouTube vids. <schestowitz> Yes, a screenshot would be good. <PetoKraus> schestowitz: how do you do that, anyway <Eruaran> I was disgusted when I first saw them because I knew that Microsoft knows damn well what a .odt is <schestowitz> akf told me about a service that allows you to download the flvs. I used to have PyTube working, but Google broke its functionality.




It ought to be pointed out at this stage that Microsoft claims to have become 'buddies' with ODF [1, 2, 3, 4]. Not quite, eh? Later on came the video, which we have produced an Ogg Theora version of.

Ogg Theora



As embedded Flash, for those who prefer it in this form:



This conversation then continued:




<Eruaran> Vista speech recognition refusing to work with OOo: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=5sVQlphmqsU <Eruaran> One commenter says: It is a demonstration of how Vista speech recognition is deliberately crippled with a non-Microsoft piece of software. * mark_antony_ken1 (n=user@host86-152-103-82.range86-152.btcentralplus.com) has joined #boycottnovell <PetoKraus> LMAO <schestowitz> Wow. <schestowitz> The "Wow" starts.... now. <Eruaran> yes * mark_antony_ken2 (n=user@ellandroad.demon.co.uk) has joined #boycottnovell <schestowitz> So we can conclude from this that Notepad is better than OOo <PetoKraus> sure! <Eruaran> oh yeah ;) <PetoKraus> it has more useful features




In conclusion, Microsoft hardly changed its way. The predatory nature of the Beast lives on to this date.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Sponsored by Linux Foundation
All the pages are full of 'Linux' Foundation ads that are not about Linux
It's Hard to Dispose or Get Rid of Swasticars Now
'Memecars' only sell as long as people have a 'belief' in them
 
Links 13/03/2025: COVID-19 Legacies and "Modern" Cars as Spying Machines on Wheels
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 12, 2025
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): Microsoft-Sponsored OSI is Probably Not Even the Real Steward of the Open Source Definition, It's More Like an Identity Thief at This Point (Like "FSFE", a Microsoft-Sponsored Imposter of FSF)
As we'll show later, many people (even inside OSI) are very angry at the OSI right now
Gemini Links 12/03/2025: Cataloging Books, Ramen, and MElon
Links for the day
Links 12/03/2025: Anti-Union Actions and New Efforts at Truce/Ceasefire in Ukraine
Links for the day
CodeWeavers Ads Weaved by LLM Slop at BetaNews
How much of this was even touched by a human being?
Springtime Plans
We currently have two long series underway
In Australia, iOS Estimated to be Bigger Than or Equal to Windows
Not even counting macOS
Brett Wilson LLP Does Not Deny Microsoft or Another "Third Party" Secretly Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights, Bankrolling Despicable People Who Deserve Criticism
Writing about crime is not a crime
Gemini Links 12/03/2025: LLM Slop Lacks a Future, Wordle Clone Comes to Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Using FUD That Blames "Linux" for Typos, Turning It Into LLM Slop That Blames "Linux" for Typos
It is probably the "leader" at LLM slop (fake 'articles') about "Linux"
Links 12/03/2025: Big Cuts to US Education and Science (e.g. NOAA)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Crossbow murders: prevention, missed opportunities
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
This yt-dlp Bug Report Shows Us That the Future of YouTube is DRM and It's Time to Leave (yt-dlp Should Also Leave Microsoft GitHub, Which Censors YouTube Downloaders)
GAFAM traps aren't "free hosting"; they herd us all into a world of tollbooths and locks, surveillance and planned obsolescence (you own nothing, you only rent)
Ukraine Didn't Take Twitter/X Down, Microsoft or Windows Likely Did
There are many debunkings (to likely false accusations), but won't that just be another example of Windows TCO, exacerbated externally in the form of Windows botnets?
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): Worse Than What the Media Has Focused on, Losing Sight of Who Owns and Runs the OSI
Members' dues are less than 3% of the income; where does the 97+ percent come from other than Microsoft?
Apple Seems to Have Run Out of Things to Boast About After Apple Vision Pro Failed Spectacularly
With "Apple Intelligence", Apple has finally named a product after what target customers lack
Slopwatch: Reckless FUD and Machine-Generated Spam from LinuxSecurity.com, cybersecuritynews.com, and gbhackers.com (Google Boosts LLM Slop About "Linux")
Google and so-called 'Google News' continue to yield anti-Linux misinformation
Gemini Links 11/03/2025: 'Chainsaw Politicians' and Proprietary Software Hell
Links for the day
Links 11/03/2025: Covid-19 5 Years On and Violence in Syria
Links for the day
Links 11/03/2025: NASA Besieged and "DOGE Has Become What It Claimed To Destroy"
Links for the day
Fresh IBM Layoffs Reported in Europe and North America, Jobs Allegedly Moved to South Asia (Low Salaries)
As usual, IBM does not talk about this
Illuminating Injustice is Critical When Reckless Microsofters and Law Firms Try to Silence Reporters of Violence Against Women
I want to clarify that I'm well within my right (and not running afoul of any rules) by explaining what goes on here
EPO Central Staff Committee: "The Strategy of the Office Lacks Transparency and Cannot be Understood"
Microsoft and the EPO violate data protection laws
Microsoft Has Not Much Left to Show Investors, Shares Fall Almost 20%
It's not even clear how Microsoft makes money anymore
Links 11/03/2025: Spring and Misfin Server
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 10, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 10, 2025