Bonum Certa Men Certa

OOXML: Security Flaw Found, Microsoft Lies About It Again, African Revolt Against It, and ISO in Great Danger

It is not looking good for OOXML. Even if it passes the September 2nd test, the wrecks it will leave behind it will be highly damaging not only to Microsoft, but also to those that surround Microsoft.

OOXML Means... Deception



Microsoft systematically lies about OOXML. It does it deliberately. To use a few recent examples, consider this batch [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. There are many more examples to be found, but they are not quite as 'fresh'. If you thought Microsoft ran out of lies, then get a load of this.

Of course, Microsoft already knows all this, and no doubt that is why they are working so hard to urge NB's to vote "Approval, with comments" with promises that their comments will be addressed at the BRM, a BRM that might not even occur. In fact, if everyone listened to Microsoft and followed their advice then that would almost guarantee that no BRM would be held and no NB's comments would be adopted.


This is another disgraceful case of deception. Microsoft hopes to have its victims razzled and dazzled until it's too later to change the mind.

OOXML Means... Not Secure



In the past, for a variety of reasons, OOXML was said to be unsafe. It's unsafe because of poor digital preservation. It is unsafe because life is in jeopardy. It is unsafe because of untrusted binary macros. It is unsafe because it depends on the existence and direction of one single company. The list could go on and on, but there's a theme here. OOXML is not a safe route for storing one's (potentially vital) documents, history, and work.

If you thought you had seen it all, be aware that an XML-related flaw has just been discovered in Excel 2007.

Bradley Mountford, a digital forensics expert, today discovered a security vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 regarding login information of external data sources.


Need anyone be woken up by a louder warning signal? Inelegant formats are bound to become susceptible to abuse. Without reuse, there is plenty of room for mistakes. OOXML is not just buggy, but it is also risky.

OOXML Means... Imperialism



Recall our very recent post about OOXML in the African continent. Reciting some key information:

In response they [Microsoft] have apparently been sending PR teams around to national Standards boards all over the world(Ghana for a fact) to lobby for votes for OOXML under the guise of talking about ‘Open XML Standards’.


Bear in mind that Ghona is actively pursuing Free software, but it's also an easy target for the notorious "exchange of favours/money".

The minister also said that "Ghana's legislators, of which I am a member, use Linux to support the computing facilities at Parliament House".


Here is where the news comes in. It follows the articles (some of which were cited in our previous Africa-tagged post) about Microsoft's abuse through lock-in. Right now, the African civil society is actually courageous enough to warn Microsoft. To paraphrase Pamela Jones (in a different context), Africa is not as ignorant as Microsoft needs it to be.

African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) may be spoiling for war with the global software giant, Microsoft Corporation, over its bid to have its DIS 29500 'Office Open Extensible Markup Language (OOXML)' endorsed by the International Standard Organisation (ISO).


Miscellany: OOXML Means... The End of Standards



It wasn't long ago that the OOXML petition site posted and posed the 5 famous questions about OOXML.

Here are some 5 simple questions you should get an answer from your Standardisation Body, from ECMA, or from Microsoft...


These questions make it evident that OOXML becoming a standard would be absurd, to say the very least. The Web is filled with new comments about OOXML's progress and here is one that caught my eye:

MS threatens legitimacy of ISO

Microsoft whines they are following the rules. Well, it's also within the rules to fire a competent and cooperative single mother of 4 children and replace her with your drinking buddy. Some rules.

ISO will commit suicide if OOXML becomes a standard as it is now. But maybe that's what Microsoft wants.


Closing a loop here, in reference to the issue of OOXML and safety, have another look at what Rob Wier said last week. It's the conclusion in an essay whose title was "Is it [OOXML] safe?" (highlight in the quoted text is ours):

The tragedy of this is that for so many NB's, with talented technical committees, the discussion of OOXML has failed to be a technical evaluation, but has quickly become a political game, where committees are stuffed, governments are pressured, billionaires call in favors, competitors blocked from participation, voting rules ignored or modified at whim, etc. All we can do is stand by and watch as Microsoft takes over JTC1. The cost to Microsoft will be great, but so much greater is the cost to JTC1. What will it mean for JTC1's future to be known as a body that does not follow its own rules, does not evaluate proposals on technical merits, but has procedures so weak and poorly written that it allows itself to be taken over by a single company? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk in Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Will be Remote
This past week RMS received lots of accolades online
 
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
Downlplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day
Links 28/08/2025: Greenland 'Interferences' by US and Skinnerboxes to Get Banned in Korean Schools
Links for the day
The Register MS (Run by Microsoft Operatives): Free Software is Putin, Hence Evil and Dangerous
The current editor in chief is an American Microsofter, the previous one went to work for Google (US)
Links 28/08/2025: Chatbots Distorting/Fabricating History and Also Driving Suicide
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/08/2025: Back in Japan and Why "Hacker News" Sucks
Links for the day
A Much-Needed Wake-up Call to Users of Wordpress.com, Blogspot, Substack and All Those Other Outsourced (and Centralised) Platforms
There are several lessons in there
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Resists Software Freedom, Even by Attacking Its Own
The OSI is compromised
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com, Slopfarms in Google News, and More
Some readers of ours end up sending us links that are from slopfarms, not realising those are slopfarms
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Katrina Memories and Google Versus Software Freedom
Links for the day
Links 27/08/2025: Police Against Media Freedom in the UK, Energy-Hungry Countries Targeted by China
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Fell to All-Time Lows in Egypt This Summer, Vista 11 Adoption Decreases While GNU/Linux Increases
Vista 11 is going down rather than up
Links 27/08/2025: Microsoft Demoralises Staff With Slop Demands, Leaving Mastodon Explained
Links for the day
12 Hours Ago The Register MS Published a Fake (Paid-for) Article, But This One for a Change Did Not Promote a Ponzi Scheme
There are also Free software alternatives, but they don't pay The Register MS for "synthetic" so-called 'journalism'
More People Need to Call Out and Put a Stop to Serial Sloppers
Unless slopfarms are stopped, people will read and share Microsoft propaganda made by chatbots
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Headphones and Tartarus
Links for the day
Morale at Microsoft is Terrible (Proprietary Plagiarism Machines Have No Future, LLM Slop is a Bubble)
The slop sceptics/critics are going to have lots of "told you so" moments
GNOME "governance issues, staff reduction, etc." amidst Albanian whistleblowing and women trafficking
Notice the connection to Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) and GNOME
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 26, 2025