Bonum Certa Men Certa

OpenDocument Format Already a Winner in Brazil, Philippines Named for OOXML Irregularities

One that learns and another which has a lot of learning left to do

There has been many success stories for GNU/Linux in Brazil recently. To name just some very new examples:



You will probably be pleased to hear the news from a delegate who attended (and later spilled the beans on) the secretive BRM in Geneva.

ODF is now a Brazilian Standard: NBR ISO/IEC 26300 !!!



On the afternoon of last Tuesday (08/04), the final translated version of the ISO/IEC 26300 was approved by members of the ABNT’s committee responsible for that activity.

According to the Brazilian laws, a National Standard needs to be written on our native language (Brazilian Portuguese) and this is why we need to translate and approve the translated text of any International Standard that is adopted as a Brazilian Standard (called here NBR). ABNT is the Brazilian National Body (NB) and handles all standardization efforts in Brazil.


Needless to say, this is nothing to sneeze at. Remember that Brazil is one of the world's largest populations. The larger ones said "No" to OOXML as well.

Meanwhile, the integrity of the process in the Philippines is being questioned again. It's far from the first time and we have given more examples from the Philippines in many past writings, including:



It's not over yet. Add the following news report to the heaps of evidence of irregularities in the Philippines (emphasis is ours).

BPS director Jesus Motoomull said in a telephone interview that the agency created a technical committee led by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to address seven technical comments that had initially led to a "no" vote with comments by the Philippines.

The country, through the BPS, eventually voted "yes" based on a consensus gathered from the members of the technical committee led by the CICT, he said.

"It was not just a BPS vote," Motoomull said, as he reiterated that the BPS has always voted based on consensus from local stakeholders. He denied that Microsoft had any influence on the agency's vote.

[...]

University of the Philippines Department of Computer Science professor Prospero Naval, however, was not satisfied with the way the country changed its vote.

"There were a lot of things that were not addressed," said Naval who was a member of a technical committee led by CICT. He was among those who voted against the Open XML format.

Naval stressed that while he is not against Microsoft, he wants the BPS to explain how they changed their vote.

"I will accept a 'yes' vote but they should show me the proof. BPS did not explain that," he said.

"If the seven comments were addressed, why don't they publish it? They should be open to the public," he said.


The latter bit which is quoted above makes it sound a great deal like irregularities at the BSI, which is, according to our count, under at least 4 attacks/investigations at the moment (EU investigation, British computer professionals, formal complaint from the OSC, John Pugh, MP). This is not good for the BSI and in case someone in the Philippines takes the initiative, there might be plenty to find there too.

Who are Microsoft and its partners kidding? With an embargo and a migration plan to GNU/Linux on the table of the European Parliament, the worst Microsoft can do at the moment is persist with bad behaviour. You don't make business by making enemies.

Related: How the Philippines Changed Its OOXML Vote from No to Yes

Recent Techrights' Posts

It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
 
Gemini Links 09/08/2025: Water Painting and Political Violence
Links for the day
Slopwatch: LLM Sloppers in Google News, LinuxSecurity, and More
they also perpetuate some falsehoods as the LLMs lack any comprehension
Links 08/08/2025: China King of Plastics and US Dictator Plans to Meet Russian Dictator
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: Cracking a Family Member's Password and Overdose of Slop
Links for the day
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025