Summary: More success stories for OpenDocument Format (ODF); Microsoft is still pushing hard for proprietary OOXML

THE most major piece of ODF news is the approval of ODF 1.2 by OASIS.

30 July 2009 OpenDocument v1.2 part 1 Committee Draft 03 has been approved.

It is worth noting that apart from Mary McRae (of OASIS), there are prominent SUN and IBM positions up there at the top -- Michael Brauer and Robert Weir, respectively. More evidence of ODF prominence is appearing now that Serif PagePlus advertises ODF support.

Other key additions in PagePlus X4 include the ability to import MS Word documents and OpenOffice.org ODF (open document format) files. PagePlus X4 will also allow users to anchor objects in relation to specific text, columns, frames, margins or pages while editing them. Frames and borders can now be dragged-and-dropped into documents too.

To get an idea of how much easier it is to support ODF, see this new Twitter remark, which says: "ISO's current defect report for ISO 29500 (OOXML) has 809 pages. That are 71 pages more than the full specification of ODF 1.1!"

Microsoft employees meanwhile wave this report from Fraunhofer, which was one of the forces behind ramming OOXML down ISO's throat. In order to keep this charade going, Microsoft employees also use the Indian press to spread familiar spin.

Software major Microsoft on Monday clarified that its representative did not suggest 'amendment on open standards' but rather said, 'There are fewer merits in mandating a single standard since it restricts choice for the customer, as well as reduce the incentive for competition and innovation by the industry'.

This is nonsense. Microsoft Malaysia used the same lies, essentially relying on people's ignorance. In reality, choice is about multiple applications, not standards. For instance, the world's population enjoys many Web browsers, but they are unified by one Internet, not many incompatible "versions of the Internet".

Elsewhere in the news we find this new ODF resource in French and another article in Portuguese. ODF still thrives, despite Microsoft's misuse of ODF [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] and corruption of the standards industry. ⬆

"Microsoft corrupted many members of ISO in order to win approval for its phony ‘open’ document format, OOXML. This was so governments that keep their documents in a Microsoft-only format can pretend that they are using ‘open standards.’ The government of South Africa has filed an appeal against the decision, citing the irregularities in the process."

--Richard Stallman, June 2008