“On the SVG List, a Couple of People [Are] Leery of Microsoft.”

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2010-01-07 16:34:55 UTC
Modified: 2010-01-07 16:34:55 UTC

"The Internet? We are not interested in it."

--Bill Gates, 1993

Summary: Microsoft's entrance into a panel that it has battled against for about a decade leads to great skepticism and worry among those who paid attention to Microsoft's behaviour

MICROSOFT boosters and several others [1, 2, 3, 4] seem to have taken notice of the news about SVG, but not much is being said about Microsoft's long- and short-term history of corrupting standards bodies such as ISO almost as a matter of strategy/policy. Microsoft managers have expressed their reluctance to help form standards and The Source writes about this very important fact:

The primary point of interest to me in this is the idea of Microsoft joining a Working Group for a technology that it has been pointedly ignoring for 11 years, and for which Microsoft can boast an industry leading 0.00% support for in its latest and greatest browser.

What exactly is Microsoft going to contribute here? What deep pool of SVG experience and credibility gets Microsoft a seat at the table?

[...]

In any case, now the W3C will probably be burning calories proving Microsoft hasn’t corrupted the W3C ISO-OOXML style.

”On the SVG list," told us a reader who follows it, "a couple of people [are] leery [sic] of MS.“ The creator of the World Wide Web, who is an opponent of software patents by the way, slammed Microsoft for its attitude towards SVG. That was about a year ago. ⬆

Image from Wikimedia

Comments

Needs Sunlight

2010-01-07 19:09:15

I can't believe anyone on the W3C committee would be so absolutely stupid as to allow Microsoft reps into any activities involving SVG, even in an observer status. Microsoft minions have been doing far more than 'pointedly ignoring' standards like SVG.
Dennis Murczak

2010-01-08 15:59:28

My theory is that MS is hatching a way how they can claim SVG support in their browser, while in fact pushing Silverblight.

Roy Schestowitz

2010-01-08 16:02:54

That's their OOXML strategy - pretend to live with ODF to gag critics.

Recent Techrights' Posts

SLAPP Censorship - Part 60 Out of 200: Talking About Corruption at Microsoft and Arrest for Strangulation is "Malice": At the moment Brett Wilson LLP has no new clients
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part VIII - "Red Line" When the European Patent Office (EPO) President Sleeps With Sister of "Cocaine Communication Manager" (Whom He Unconditionally Protects): If only management took its own words (idealistic pontification) seriously
Links 28/04/2026: Microsoft's GitHub Upselling After Two Leaders Jumped Ship (Losses Pile Up), "Inflation Jumps," and More: Links for the day
IBM Laying Off Thousands of Workers Again, Based on Q1 Earnings Call: under the guise of "workforce rebalancing" we are again seeing that IBM plans to pay people (severance) to leave
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 27, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, April 27, 2026
Gemini Links 28/04/2026: Good Sunrise Viewing and Self-hosting from Home: Links for the day[1;5C
Microsoft Insiders: If You Don't Take the Lousy Severance-Like Offer, They'll PIP You Out (Microsoft Signals to People Over 40 That They'd Better Vacate the Place): Microsoft targets its most experienced (read: expensive) workers
"AI" 16 Times in One 'Article'. The Register MS Got Paid to Post This Spammy, Promotional Piece of Slop.: Pay closer attention to who pays and who gets paid
Links 27/04/2026: Chernobyl Disaster at 40, "Heartbreaking" Decline of Australia: Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/04/2026: Gopher Catchup, MNT Reform, and Injuries: Links for the day
Red Hat Circling Down the Slop Drain: IBM, governed by slop fanatics, is going to do a lot of damage
Slop is an Addiction, Its Users Find It Addictive: please do not tolerate people who slop
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part VII - Secrecy at the EPO (Regarding Cocaine and Nepotism) Has Undermined Trust in Management: If Europe's second-largest institution is run by the "Alicante Mafia", does this mean that other key European institutions are "Mafia"?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 59 Out of 200: Mentioning the Fact Alex Graveley Arrested and Charged for Strangulation in Texas is "Reckless" and "Malicious", According to His 'Hired Guns' in London: it was framed as "malicious"
Links 27/04/2026: Strikes, Corruption in Spain (Spanish PM Sanchez' Wife), and YouTuber Faces Jail Time: Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/04/2026: Gopher Catch-up, Year of Contentment, and Path to Freedom: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 26, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, April 26, 2026
Journalistic Malpractice: Helping Microsoft Paint 'Voluntary' Layoffs (Before PIPs) as "Buyouts": What does this tell us about today's media?
The Man IBMers Regard or Already See as Likely Successor of Krishna (or Next CEO of IBM) is a Slop Fanatic: How dangerously misguided
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part VI - Management of the European Patent Office (EPO) Covered Up Cocaine Use, Even Colleagues Not Informed: the self-described "fu--ing president"
SLAPP Censorship - Part 58 Out of 200: 5RB and Brett Wilson LLP Helped Garrett and Graveley Make Equivalent of GAFAM NDAs Superficially 'Enforceable' in the UK, Using Threats: laziness results in many hours and high lawyers' fees
Who Controls Fedora? IBM and GAFAM.: Don't for a moment believe that IBM understands GNU/Linux. We are quite certain nobody in IBM's Board of Directors uses it.
State of Slop About GNU/Linux: As the incentive to publish is reduced (competing with slop is no fun), the effort/money invested in stories goes down
Links 26/04/2026: Korean Inflation, GLP-1 Drugs Linked to Cognitive Impairment, Lithuania's Public Broadcaster LRT Besieged: Links for the day
Hopefully Smooth Sailing in OS Upgrade: There are some contingencies at hand
Links 25/04/2026: "Horrible Economics of AI Are Starting to Come Crashing Down", More Restrictions Placed on Social Control Media: Links for the day
Getting Aggressive Suggestive of Loss - Part IV - Shutting Down My Existence: Would anyone out there tolerate such messages sent from burner accounts?
Gemini Links 26/04/2026: Gemini Movie Database (or GeminiMDB) and Star Trek III: Links for the day
Weeks Before Linux Removed Over 100,000 Lines of Code Due to Slop 'Bug Reports' Microsoft Paid 'Linux' Foundation to Advance Slop in the Name of 'Security': What can possible go wrong? Both for security and for stability.
Tracking Ages of People: To stay "safe" tell us your age
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 25, 2026: IRC logs for Saturday, April 25, 2026