Bonum Certa Men Certa

Clannish Grouping Makes Tribal Elections (ISO and OOXML)

Never trust the Microsoft Trust

It was not so long ago that Larry Ellison described the competition against Microsoft in an alarmist fashion. He back then described the scenario as one which involves "Bill Gates against the world." You can find a video where he speaks about Microsoft right here.

“It truly becomes concerning when you see a formation of what used to be known as the "Trust", just before anti-trust laws were introduced.”Increasingly, as we clearly see in the case of OOXML, it's not just Microsoft which pushes for greater adoption of its poor formats, but also Microsoft partners, which form what Microsoft refers to as its growing ecosystem. It truly becomes concerning when you see a formation of what used to be known as the "Trust", just before anti-trust laws were introduced. Find out more about it in the following documentary video (requires gnash/Flash).

When the broad market's needs collide with a status quo comprising Microsoft-dependent industries, with grossly overwhelming presence in panels involving Microsoft's future, that becomes an issue. It truly become a case of "Microsoft (+parters) versus everybody else". The consumer is of course likely to suffer the most as a consequence.

Have a quick look at this new writeup which touches on a similar question: It's summarised as "Free Market vs the OOXML".

Supporting open standards does not equate to supporting standards for which ISO said are standards. It means supporting technologies which were designed to be fully interoperable, compatible and transparently documented so as to be fitting for use by a large number of people without forming a situation of lock-in to a particular company. An open standard is a technology whose inner workings are completely transparent and whose use does not constitute dependance on any particular product or company, and which is commonly used in the market.


It could be argued that other companies quite likely to benefit from Microsoft Office dominance are simply those which share wealth, notably Microsoft partners. A week ago we saw a summary that explained why India's "Yes" voters are all indeed just in Microsoft's pocket. Rather than looking at the merits (or lack thereof) of the document they voted on, the decision seems to have been based solely on personal financial considerations. And that's not beneficial to anybody, except the clique that Microsoft has grown to selectively circulate wealth. Think of this as a seclusive group of egocentric elites.

Was it any different Malaysia, which had been heavily abused by Microsoft? Apparently not. Just have a look at the latest report:

The final vote for TC4 was: 4 Approvals, 8 Disapprovals and 5 Abstentions.

What is interesting is that the Approvals, like in the case of India are associations which have strong ties with Microsoft, of whom provides support, funding and are sponsors to their events.


Considering the fact that a conflict of interests obviously exists, why are these Microsoft-affiliated participants allow to even vote? What about the disproportionate number of Microsoft partners? This demonstrates just how flawed the process is, and how susceptible it is to gaming and abuse.

OOXML Suppets
Pay-to-play puppet state

Recent Techrights' Posts

People's Understanding of the History of GNU/Linux is Changing
RMS is not a radical, he's just clever enough to see and foresee what's going on
Microsofters Were Scheming to Take Over This Entire Web Site (in Their Own Words!)
Money gets spent censoring/deplatforming people who speak about real issues; no money gets spent actually tackling those underlying issues
Bicycles for the Minds and the Story Harrison Bergeron
"The goal of having people in charge of the tools they use and that the tools should amplify ability" has long been abandoned
[Video] Cory Doctorow Explains DMCA: DRM in the Browser (or Webapp) Will "Make It a Felony to Protect Your Privacy While You Use It."
Pycon US Keynote Speaker Cory Doctorow
 
Big Crowds Gather to Learn About Software Freedom From the Man Who Started GNU/Linux in 1983
"It was a great success"
Microsoft Layoffs Again in Bay Area
Microsoft relies on people's false belief that being "in LinkedIn" will get you a job; well, seems like even working inside LinkedIn really sucks and you lose the job
Gemini Links 30/05/2025: Fighting Against the Bad News, and Slop is Dehumanisation Disguised as "Intelligence"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 29, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 29, 2025
Links 29/05/2025: Chinese Cracking Against EU Institutions (Prague), More Assaults on Media and Its Funding Sources
Links for the day
EPO Workers Caution That the Officials Are Still Illegally Trying to Replace Staff With Slop (to Lower Quality and Validity of European Patents)
Nobody in Europe voted for any of this
Links 29/05/2025: US Health Deficit and Malware Disguised as Slop Generator
Links for the day
Links 29/05/2025: Turtle Roadkill, Modern 'Tech' as a Sting
Links for the day
Thanks for All the Fish, Linux Format
people who once wrote for it (or for other magazines) comment on the importance of this news
Links 29/05/2025: YouTube Problem and Giant Privacy Hole in Microsoft OneDrive
Links for the day
United States Courts With Sworn Testimonies Are on Our Side, We'll Present the Same Here
Chronicling what happened is a moral imperative
Serial Sloppers Ruin and Lessen the Incentive to Cover "Linux"
The Serial Sloppers (SSs) ought to be named and shamed, but almost nobody does this
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 28, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Links 28/05/2025: 'Emulation Layers' (Measurements and Linguistics), Libraries, and Discomfort
Links for the day
Links 28/05/2025: More Arrests for Bitcoin-Connected Torture and Prosecutions for Dieselgate-Linked Executives
Links for the day
Even Microsoft (MSN) Covers Richard Stallman's Public Talk in Milan 2 Days Ago
He spoke in Spanish earlier this month (Alicante)
Gemini Links 28/05/2025: Techo-authoritarianism With Slop Plagiarism and "No Online June" (Going Offline)
Links for the day
Links 28/05/2025: GitHub MCP Exploited and MathWorks Discovers Huge Windows TCO
Links for the day
Very High Attendance Level at Richard Stallman's Talk Shows People Can Relate to His Message
Smear campaigns have their limits
Gemini Links 28/05/2025: Celsius-Fahrenheit, Endless Scrolling/Infinite Scrolling, and Trapping LLM Slop Bots
Links for the day
Prison gate backdrop to baptism by Fr Sean O'Connell, St Paul's, Coburg
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
More Photos From This Week's Milan Talk by Richard Stallman
The posts are in Italian, not English
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 27, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 27, 2025