Bonum Certa Men Certa

ODF Alliance Newsletter - 10 December 2008

Credit: Marino Marcich, ODF Alliance

GERMANY JOINS GROWING RANKS OF COUNTRIES ADOPTING ODF



Germany has decided to implement use of ODF. According to the announcement made by the federal government’s IT Council, German federal agencies will be able to receive, read, send and edit ODF documents beginning no later than 2010. Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML), which is the default-format for its Office 2007 productivity suite, remains under review. To date, 16 national and 8 provincial governments have now formally recommended or required the use of ODF by government agencies and with the public.

Announcement [in German] -
http://www.bmi.bund.de/Internet/Content/Nachrichten/Pressemitteilungen/2008/12/ODF.html


DUTCH GOVERNMENT’S INSTRUCTIONS ON USE OF OPEN STANDARDS, ODF PUBLISHED

The Dutch government has published instructions in the country’s National Gazette regarding making open standards based procurement the default – a policy which has been in force since 1 April 2008 – now that the European Commission has given its seal of approval. According to the announcement made on November 24, 2008 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, this means in principle that for public purchases of IT worth more than 50,000 euro, the use of open standards such as ODF is now mandatory for government bodies in the public and semi-public sectors (”comply or explain” why not).

Announcement [in Dutch] -
http://www.ez.nl/Actueel/Pers_en_nieuwsberichten/Nieuwsberichten_2008/November_2008/Instructies_rond_gebruik_open_standaarden

List of Open Standards [in Dutch] -


http://www.forumstandaardisatie.nl/fileadmin/OVOS/Basislijst_OS1.pdf


VENEZUELA ADOPTS ODF FOR GOVERNMENT

Venezuela became the latest country in South America to adopt the Open Document Format (ODF), joining Brazil, Uruguay and several regional governments. Speaking at the 2nd International ODF User Workshop on October 9-10, 2008 in Pretoria, South Africa, Carlos Gonzalez of the National Center of Information Technologies announced that the Venezuelan government had formally adopted ODF as a standard for the “processing, exchange and storage of documents.”

http://www.odfworkshop.com/presentations/Gonzalez-Pretoria-ODF.pdf


ODF TOOLKIT UNION ANNOUNCED

The ODF ecosystem and value proposition continues to expand with IBM and Sun Microsystem’s launch of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) Toolkit Union, which will provide developers an application programming interface (API) for reading, writing and manipulating ODF documents and enable them to easily produce ODF-supporting applications. The open source project is established at http://odftoolkit.org. The founding members Sun and IBM invite and welcome other contributors to join.



http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/IBM-Sun-Microsystems-Launch-ODF/story.aspx?guid={39DC24F7-9368-4437-92A5-E49FFFDE6AEF}


NEW GROUP CREATED TO IMPROVE INTEROPERABILITY, CONFORMANCE TO ODF

OASIS, the international open standards consortium which maintains ODF, has formed a new group, the OASIS ODF Interoperability and Conformance (OIC) Committee, to help implementors ensure that the growing number of ODF-compliant applications are able to interoperate and conform to the standard. The OIC Committee will analyze the state of ODF interoperability, make recommendations, compile a corpus of ODF interoperability test documents, and host multi-vendor interoperability demonstrations showcasing products that conform, among other activities. All ODF stakeholders, including commercial and open source publishers of ODF applications, testing and certification labs, people responsible for purchasing ODF-related tools, governments and regulators are invited to join.

http://www.oasis-open.org/news/oasis-news-2008-11-03.php


NEW OR IMPROVED ODF APPLICATIONS SUPPORT

OpenOffice.org 3.0 now runs on Mac OS X without the need for X11.


http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/3.0/#Mac_OS_X_Support

Sun’s StarOffice 9 now runs on the on Mac OS X.
http://news.portalit.net/fullnews_sun-releases-staroffice-9-with-mac-support_1812.html

Lotus Symphony 1.2, IBM’s free office suite, will be based entirely on ODF v1.2 and released for Windows, Ubuntu Linux, and the Mac.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/25912.wss

Zoho Show now exports to .odp.
http://blogs.zoho.com/general/zoho-show-update-export-as-pptpdfodf-ui-in-9-new-languages-undoredo-more/#comment-287542

KDE’s KOffice 2.0 (Beta 3) uses ODF as its native, default format.
http://www.koffice.org/announcements/announce-2.0beta3.php



Nisus Writer Pro 1.2, the latest version of Nisus Software’s word processor, now exports to .odt.
http://www.nisus.com/blogs/?p=208

Evermore Software’s announced that EIOffice 2009 will soon read and write ODF files.
http://www.evermoresw.com/

DeltaXML ODT Compare, a new freeware OpenOffice.org extension, is a comparison tool for .odt files that performs a detailed text comparison and generates a new document with the changes marked.
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/DeltaXMLODTCompare

SILVERCODERS DocToText converts ODF and other formats to plain text, facilitating searching, indexing, and archiving.
http://silvercoders.com/index.php?page=DocToText

SILVERCODERS DocStorage document management utility provides full integration with leading ODF-supporting office software suites.


http://silvercoders.com/index.php?page=Products

ODF Easy 0.2 (pre alpha) provides an easier way to create your ODF files with Java.
http://www.itexto.net/odfeasy/?page_id=2

SeMarket’s ‘VisorODF’ (ODF-viewer), an open source mobile phone application allowing you to display .odt files, has been released in beta.
http://forge.morfeo-project.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=237


NEW ALLIANCE MEMBERS

Please welcome the following new members: Seosmart GmbH (Germany); Community Development Foundation Jacobabad Sindh (Pakistan); FreeCode AS (Norway); ElanceTalk; ITA - Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (Brazil); SeMarket (Spain); Vdesign (Sweden); olonda s.r.o. (Slovakia); DeltaXML Ltd (UK); Sombra Designer Visual (Brazil); Norwegian UNIX User Group (Norway); Webdesign Internetagentur (Germany); Readypeople (Spain); GoGoShopper (USA); Studenski Internet-Dienste Webdesign (Germany); SEO Beratung kruegers.net (Germany); itexto (Brazil); Master it (The Netherlands); Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (Ghana); SEOdesign sökmotoroptimering (Sweden) and ArcheTech Srl (Italy).




EVENTS CALENDAR

Workshop on Development of eProcurement Solutions in Line with the European Directives [14 January 2009 - Vienna, Austria]
http://www.epractice.eu/workshop/37

FOSDEM 2009 [7-8 February 2009 - Brussels, Belgium]
http://www.fosdem.org/2009/

Netherlands Open in Connection (NOIV) Congress [5 March 2009 - The Netherlands]
TBD

Berlin Open 2009 [22-23 June 2009 - Berlin, Germany]
http://www.berlin-open.org/programm.html




ODF IN THE NEWS

OFE calls on EU to crack down on Public Procurement practice for IT software [epractice.eu]
http://www.epractice.eu/document/5154

NL: Government instructs itself to use open standards [Gijs Hillenius, OSOR-news]
http://www.osor.eu/news/nl-government-instructs-itself-to-use-open-standards

Hidden cost of proprietary standards may lead to illegal tenders [Gijs Hillenius, OSOR-news]
http://www.osor.eu/news/hidden-cost-of-proprietary-standards-may-lead-to-illegal-tenders

OpenOffice Skakes Microsoft [David Frith, Australian IT]


http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24734388-39525,00.html

IBM launches first Linux-OpenOffice desktop with virtualization features [Paula Rooney, ZDNet]
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3152Is

Sun, IBM Launch ODF Tools Initiative [Chris Kanaracus, IDG News Service]
http://news.iwebtool.com/article_75220.html?mp=1

Interoperability at different levels [CyberTech Rambler]
http://ctrambler.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/interoperability-at-different-levels/

Researcher: IT vendors should fix interoperability mess [Gijs Hillenius, osor.eu]
http://www.osor.eu/news/researcher-it-vendors-should-fix-interoperability-mess



Belgium: ICT advisory body joins group to help ODF developers [Gijs Hillenius, OSOR-news]
http://www.osor.eu/news/be-ict-advisory-body-joins-group-to-help-odf-developers

Who Will Be Obama’s CTO? [Christopher Saunders, InternetNews.com]
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3782861/Who%20Will%20Be%20Obamas%20CTO.htm

10 Standards Recommendations for the Obama Administration [Andrew Updegrove, ConsortiumInfo.org]
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20081207175149736

What’s a Document? [Stephen O’Grady, RedMonk]
http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2008/11/24/whats-a-document/

Microsoft Introduces Windows 7, Ending Vista Brand [John Markoff, New York Times]


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/technology/business-computing/29soft.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

MPs hit by Office 2003, Word 2007 incompatibility [Nick Heath, ZDNet]
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39563449,00.htm

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
 
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025