02.22.10
Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Office Suites, Open XML, OpenDocument, Servers, Windows at 1:17 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Data corruption glitches inherent and more likely with Microsoft’s sub-standard products that do not comply with industry standards
TWO YEARS ago I called Windows Home Server (WHS) “data corruption server” because it turned out that its unique feature (or antifeature) was that it silently destroyed people’s data rather than make backups like it was supposed to. We wrote about the disaster which is Windows Home Server around that time; it’s built upon pretty much the same codebase that makes up Vista 7.
According to this very extensive new review of the Asus TS Mini Windows Home Server, GNU/Linux is still miles ahead of Microsoft when it comes to so-called “home servers” (Microsoft terminology for the most part). To quote some portions of the text:
Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices are essentially small servers designed for use in the home, but generally use modified versions of Linux. It was only a matter of time before Microsoft got in on the action with Windows Home Server (WHS), which it introduced in 2007.
Most NAS devices run Linux on hardware based around embedded processors from manufacturers such as Marvell or Freescale, typically based on the ARM design. WHS, on the other hand, will run on standard PC hardware based around Intel or AMD x86 processors.
[...]
Linux is the obvious choice since many distributions are free and its reliability is well-documented. Installing, configuring and maintaining Linux can be a time consuming hassle though, even if you’re already familiar with the OS.
[...]
Overall, Asus’s Home Server TS Mini is a disappointment. The hardware’s clumsy design makes adding or replacing a hard disk more difficult than it has to be. Asus’ WHS plug-ins don’t add much value either, although these can always be updated in future or just replaced with alternatives of your choosing. The sluggish performance is particularly disappointing though, limiting the TS Mini’s usefulness.
All of this is a shame, since the WHS OS clearly has much potential, but it’s not without its flaws either. It’s disappointing that almost three years after its launch, there aren’t easily accessible printer sharing options or RAID support.
There is one area where the failure of Windows Home Server is similar to that of OOXML. According to this new post from Rob Weir, Microsoft Office has data corruption problems that affect OOXML.
In this post I take a look at Microsoft’s claims for robust data recovery with their Office Open XML (OOXML) file format. I show the results of an experiment, where I introduce random errors into documents and observe whether word processors can recover from these errors. Based on these result, I estimate data recovery rates for Word 2003 binary, OOXML and ODF documents, as loaded in Word 2007, Word 2003 and in OpenOffice.org Writer 3.2.
My tests suggest that the OOXML format is less robust than the Word binary or ODF formats, with no observed basis for the contrary Microsoft claims. I then discuss the reasons why this might be expected.
It is not exactly surprising because OOXML has corruption written all over it, but Microsoft’s crimes aside, there are clearly some technical deficiencies. Microsoft does not build software for robustness. The London Stock Exchange found this out the hard way [1, 2]. People inside Microsoft know this too. █
‘Eller and his team had written what they felt was some very good Windows code. When Konzen came over he appeared to want to counter this impression—he told the Windows team their code was garbage. They had completely misengineered the system, he said.
‘”These Apple guys really know their graphics,” Konzen told Eller.
‘”They’re better, faster, and simply easier to use. You chimps working on Windows don’t have a clue.”‘
–Barbarians Led by Bill Gates, a book composed
by the daughter of Microsoft’s PR mogul
Permalink
Send this to a friend
02.21.10
Posted in FUD, Google, Microsoft, Open XML, OpenDocument, Videos at 9:23 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft is still attacking its competition rather than focus on its own products and comply with industry standards
Microsoft — like Novell [1, 2, 3, 4] — uses YouTube to promote its products and to spin/lie (e.g. about OOXML), but according to the following two reports, Microsoft also uses YouTube to disparage its competition. Microsoft not only sues Google and resorts to whisper campaigns; right now it has employees going out there to smear a rival of Microsoft’s biggest cash cow (and one of the very few products that are profitable):
The Irony of Microsoft’s Anti-Google Apps Campaign on YouTube
[...]
In a Microsoft video extolling its virtues, the narrator makes the point that marketing is difficult with Google Apps. It’s far simpler with Microsoft Office.
So we find it deliciously ironic that Microsoft is marketing a number of anti-Google Apps videos using Google’s YouTube. Hmm…doesn’t that defeat the point a bit?
[...]
It all feels like a company protecting its power base more so than embracing the current disruption in the market.
Also:
Microsoft Attacks Google Apps … on YouTube
[...]
They’ll let anything onto YouTube these days. No, I’m not talking about the millionth video featuring a squirrel lip-syncing to Right Said Fred, but a set of Microsoft-created videos attacking Google Apps. I guess Google, which owns YouTube, really has no inclination to censor anything aside from content that violates copyrights; but watching the Microsoft videos play out next to that YouTube logo is like watching promos for a TV show like “Dexter” (produced by Showtime) playing on HBO or another rival channel.
Microsoft sometimes uses former employees from the Office group in order to do the smearing/belittling of Google Apps and the Microsoft-paid blog called TechFlash is now giving a platform for a former Microsoft employee (“He worked in Microsoft’s Information Technology Group in the early 1990s,” says the bottom part) to do the same type of things. This control of the press is a subject that was demonstrated in the previous post and one which we’ll return to later.
It’s easy to see why Microsoft is so concerned. First it was ODF and now it’s Google Apps. One dismantles Microsoft’s lock-in using open formats that everyone supports and the other challenges Microsoft’s core business model. Microsoft's old friend, Dina Bass from Seattle, has just disseminated this Microsoft narrative which she originally published in Bloomberg:
Microsoft Corp. President Stephen Elop is preparing for the biggest shakeup to the $19 billion Office business in a decade as the company races Google Inc. to sell Internet-based programs.
The article is imbalanced and Google is hardly quoted at all (even though it’s a subject of the article). It reads almost like an advertisement for Microsoft. Speaking of which, Microsoft already advertises a product that’s not even available (Office 2010) and someone sent us this screenshot of a new dialogue, which he described as “Satan’s talk with Jesus, at the desert.” As usual — and as we have expected all along — Microsoft sells people the illusion that ODF is defective. Microsoft doesn’t even implement it properly [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].█
Permalink
Send this to a friend
Posted in Asia, Marketing, Microsoft, Open XML, OpenDocument at 8:36 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft Philippines “targets Manila’s top 100 Netizens” and also targets so-called ‘piracy’
THE head of Microsoft Philippines quit the firm last year but not before being part of Microsoft’s OOXML scandals. Among posts that covered OOXML in the Philippines we have:
A leopard does not change its spots and Microsoft Philippines is still very unethical if not simply corrupt.
We previously covered examples where Microsoft had bribed bloggers [1, 2, 3, 4] to rave about Vista 7. Some months ago we also showed that Microsoft fed 777 prominent Korean bloggers in order for them to do this type of promotion and now we are finding something similar in the Philippines. The following article has changed since it was first published. Its older headline was “‘VIP Mix’ of Microsoft targets Manila’s top 100 Netizens”
Microsoft in the Philippines is trying out what looks and sounds like the second-oldest sales strategy in the book.
[...]
To secure a free VIP invite, a prospective guest needs to comply with certain requirements previously set by the company.
Last December, when it held its first VIP event for students, the software company chose the top 100 students with the most number of friends on Facebook.
Those who emerged on top of the pile had an average of 2,000 Facebook friends, an achievement made possible by their extensive networks, de Dios said.
[...]
An unofficial Facebook account of Microsoft friends in the Philippines — known as MSfriends Philippines — has also been created.
Who knows how much buzz that will generate?
No one does, as of yet.
But one thing’s for sure: Bill Gates is smiling.
Yes, Bill Gates is always smiling all the way to the bank because there are enough fools out there who fall for his PR operations and fail to see his continued abuse of society (more on that later).
“Microsoft is just trying to alter press coverage and blog coverage in the Philippines.”The article above can also be found here and it’s hard not to think of Melvin Calimag, a Microsoft booster/journalist from the Philippines — one whom Microsoft flew to the United States at its own expense for some OOXML brainwash and poison against ODF (courtesy of Microsoft employees, who disparaged ODF “independently” at the time). Microsoft is just trying to alter press coverage and blog coverage in the Philippines. It’s as simple as that.
At the same time, Microsoft suppresses Free software adoption in the Philippines using dumping techniques that we covered in:
- The EDGIfication of the Philippines
- Microsoft’s B.A.D. in China, Philippines
Our reader Chips B. Malroy has just shown us this new article that says: “Citing a study by a global technology research firm, Magsadia said the country has a 69 percent software piracy rate. Magsadia bared the Microsoft Philippines has decided to reduce the standard retail price of its Windows 7, for instance, from P9,000 down to P2,000, to help alleviate the problem on piracy.”
We are going to write about the latest “piracy” propaganda from Microsoft a little later (today or tomorrow). As Malroy explains, the above shows that “MS first goes after the “business” users. Last I knew 50peso to the US dollar, so MS is selling Seven for less than $40 to these cafe owners, in order to get some of them to buy.”
Microsoft is suppressing GNU/Linux in Internet Cafés [1, 2] where Free software is a good fit (mostly safe Web browsing is required). “MS going after piracy, is another way to squeeze out more revenue as profits decline. MS attempts to do this will increasingly become evil,” concludes Malroy. █
Permalink
Send this to a friend
02.18.10
Posted in OpenDocument at 5:19 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Courtesy of Marino Marcich, ODF Alliance (18 February 2010)
DENMARK OPTS FOR ODF
Beginning 1 April 2011 governmental authorities in Denmark will be required to send and receive documents in formats designated in a list now including ODF. ODF is unique as the only editable document format listed in the decision of the Danish Parliament. To the extent Danish government authorities publish editable documents on their home pages, they must also do so using ODF and, optionally, using other document formats that may be included on the list at a later date. For a format to be included on the list, a five-part “openness” test was developed. This included a requirement that any other format considered for inclusion be interoperable with the existing standard on the list, meaning that it must be interoperable with ODF. For non-editable published documents PDF/A-1 is listed. The action was taken in accordance with Danish parliamentary decision B103 of 2006 requiring the government to ensure that the use of information technology by the public sector is based on open standards.
OPEN STANDARDS A “FIRST-CHOICE” SOLUTION FOR SWEDEN’S E-GOVERNMENT STRATEGY
Citing the opportunities for long-term cost reductions, the avoidance of lock-in and dependence on individual suppliers, a government-appointed group of senior officials, the so-called E-Government Delegation (“E-Delegationen” in Swedish), has recommended that Sweden make open standards a “first-choice” solution in the public administration. ODF is specifically referenced as an example of an open standard, the designation of which is included in the list of actions that the E-Delegation recommends should be carried out by the end of 2014. The report – “Strategy on the work of the Public Agencies in the field of eGovernment” – proposes ways of increasing the efficiency of the Swedish public administration and promoting societal innovation through eGovernment.
OOXML UNSUITABLE FOR USE BY NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT, ACCORDING TO STUDY
A study published by Norway’s Agency for Public Administration and ICT (“Direktoratet for forvaltning og IKT”) has concluded that OfficeOpen XML (OOXML) is not suitable for use by the Norwegian government. Among the reasons cited were the lack of alternative office applications able to process and edit docx files in a satisfactory manner, OOXML’s unsuitability for collaboration, and its “unstable” nature given the number of changes to the format currently being considered. Norway recently affirmed its policy that, beginning 1 January 2011, it will be obligatory to use ODF when exchanging editable files between government institutions and users, PDF/A for non-editable (read-only) files, and HTML for publication of public information on government websites.
OBAMA ADMINSTRATION GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO OPEN FORMATS
U.S. federal government agencies will soon be required to make information available in open formats. According to the Open Government Directive issued by the Obama Administration, each agency will be required to “take prompt steps to expand access to information by making it available online in open formats……..To the extent practicable and subject to valid restrictions, agencies should publish information online in an open format that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by commonly used web search applications.” An open format is defined in the directive as one that is platform independent, machine readable, and made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the re-use of that information. Within 45 days of the publication of the directive on 8 December 2009, each agency was required to identify and publish online in an open format at least three high-value data sets. Agencies are required to produce a first draft of an Open Government Plan by April 2010.
ODF APPROVED FOR USE BY SLOVAK GOVERNMENT
Slovakia has approved amendments to a decree on the use of standards for information systems in the public administration. Government bodies in Slovakia must now be able to receive text documents in ODF, PDF 1.3, RTF and HTML. They may publish documents in any of these formats, though PDF is preferred. For intra-governmental document exchange, the use of DOC will continue to be allowed, though its use as a format for published documents is explicitly prohibited. A working group of the Committee for Information Systems in the Ministry of Interior was able to reach agreement on the amendments to the decree, which is legally binding and took effect 1 February 2010.
UK GOVERNMENT TO SUPPORT OPEN STANDARDS BASED SOLUTIONS, ODF
In a refresh of the “Open Source, Open Standards and Software Re-Use: Government Action Plan,” part of the Government’s ICT Strategy, the UK has reiterated its support for open standards and ODF. According to the plan, the UK government will use open standards in its procurement specifications and require solutions to comply with open standards. Regarding formats, the government “will support the use of HTML(ISO/IEC 15445:2000), Open Document Format (ISO/IEC 26300:2006) as well as emerging open versions of previously proprietary standards (eg ISO 3200001:2008 (“PDF”) and ISO/IEC 29500 (“OfficeOpen XML formats”). It will work to ensure that government information is available in open formats, and it will make this a required standard for government websites.” The strategy applies to all of the UK public sector, whether central government, local government, wider public sector or devolved administrations.
HUNGARY TO MAKE OPEN STANDARDS MANDATORY
The use of open standards in public-sector infrastructure will now be mandatory in Hungary. According to an amendment passed by the Hungarian Parliament on the law governing electronic public services (Act LX of 2009), open standards are now required in electronic communication conducted through the central governmental system between public administrative bodies, public utility companies, citizens, and private entities, who may comply on a voluntary basis. The modification was supported by the Open Standards Alliance and ODFA Hungary.
ASSAM GOVERNMENT TO CREATE AND STORE DOCUMENTS IN ODF
The Government of Assam’s policy requiring government departments and bodies to ensure adherence to ODF in creating and storing editable documents has now come into force with the publication of the state IT policy on 4 August 2009. Open source also received a major boost under the new policy, which commits the government to promote the use of and workforce training in Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in all public bodies in Assam, India’s fourteenth largest state.
MUNICH COMPLETES MIGRATION TO ODF
ODF is now Munich’s primary internal document exchange format, with PDF used for non-editable files. According to the deputy leader of LiMux, the city’s project for migrating its 14,000 workstations to free software, the migration involved 20,000 templates that were consolidated and converted into new templates, macros or web applications. The standard workstation for Bavaria’s capital and Germany’s third largest city now consists of OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird.
NEW YORK STATE TO HOLD OPEN GOVERNMENT SUMMIT
The New York State Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology (CIO/OFT) and the NY State Archives will host the Open Government Summit in Albany, NY, on March 19, 2010. The one day summit will address the many hot-button issues in the “open government” discussion, including the meaning of “open government” in the digital age, operationalizing digital openness, and archival implications of digital records. A report published by CIO/OFT in May 2008 – “A Strategy for Openness: Enhancing E-Records Access in New York State” – recommended that the state identify open formats as a technology feature specifically desired by the state and integrate the acquisition of this feature of openness into the state’s technology planning and procurement processes. More information concerning how to register to attend the Summit will be available shortly.
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT 2.0 TASK FORCE ENDORSES OPEN-STANDARDS BASED APPROACH TO PUBLIC-SECTOR INFORMATION
Starting with the premise that “public-sector information is a national resource, and that releasing as much of it on as permissive terms as possible will maximize its economic and social value and reinforce a healthy democracy,” the Australian Government 2.0 Task Force, in its report “Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0,” has recommended that public-sector information should be free, based on open standards, easily discoverable, machine-readable and freely reusable.
SPAIN TO PROPOSE GOVERNMENT-WIDE STANDARDS FOR INTEROPERABILITY
Spain’s national interoperability framework for eGovernment (“Esquema Nacional de Interoperabilidad en el ámbito de la Administración Electrónica”), published 29 January 2010 by decree in the country’s official journal, establishes criteria and recommendations, together with the specific principles necessary to enable and encourage the development of interoperability in public administrations. They include the development at a later date of a catalog of technical standards that will enforceable by the government, the selection of which will be based on specific criteria set out in the decree. Public administrations are encouraged under the framework to use open standards and, where appropriate, standards that are widely used by citizens to ensure freedom of choice from competing technologies. It is recommended that documents and other electronic administrative services be made available via open standards under conditions satisfying the principle of technological neutrality.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD BEGINS FOR ODF 1.2, PART 1
Potential users, developers and others, whether OASIS members or not, are invited to comment on ODF 1.2, Part 1, which defines an XML schema for office applications and its semantics. The 60-day public review period ending 26 March 2010 is necessary before a Committee Draft can be approved as a Committee Specification and ultimately as an OASIS Standard. The public review period for ODF 1.2, Part 3, which included digital signature support and an RDF-based metadata framework, among other significant enhancements, ended 12 January 2010. The public comment period for Part 2 (OpenFormula for spreadsheets) is next on the agenda.
ODF OLYMPIAD ENTERS FINAL STAGE
Students from schools across India, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Indonesia are participating in the ODF Olympiad. The contest, supported by The Knowledge Commons, Sun Microsystems, IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad, Malaysia Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), Bangladesh Open Source Network, Free Software Foundation and the ODF Alliance, required students to submit presentations on 9 November 2009 on specific topics using the ODF format (.odp). The submissions are now being evaluated by a jury in each country based on specific criteria. Winners from each of the countries will then compete against each other for the Software Freedom Trophy for their respective school and other prizes, including netbooks and other high-tech gadgets.
NEW OR IMPROVED ODF APPS SUPPORT
Box.net, a web-based service for accessing and sharing content, has launched a new integrated file view feature allowing users to view various file types, including ODF, without ever leaving their browser.
OfficeReader is an open source viewer of ODF files for Symbian phones.
Office Viewer for the Nokia N900 mobile device supports text files, spreadsheets and presentations in ODF.
Blackberry Enterprise Server 5.0 now provides support for .ods and .odp files on Blackberry devices.
Sun PDF Import Extension for OpenOffice 3.0 or above allows you to import and modify PDF documents.
Abl2Extract v6.0 is the latest version of the data conversion tool allowing you to convert PDFs to ODF and other editable file formats.
ODT2DAISY, which enables export of ODF documents to the DAISY Talking Book Format for people with visual impairments, is now available for OpenOffice 3.0 and higher.
OfficeShots, now in public beta, is an initiative of the OpenDoc Society and the Netherlands in Open Connection (NOiV) program of the Dutch government. The web service generates the output of an ODF file using various office applications, enabling the user to check for interoperability issues.
ODF Import imports ODF files into drupal nodes. Future releases will support other ODF formats as well as importing styles from an ODF file.
Open Search Server v1.1, the first stable version of the free Web and document search engine, now includes ODF support in addition to other major enhancements.
ODF-XSLT Document Generator is a library written in PHP 5 that brings the full power of XSLT to your ODF files.
odtPHP, now in version 1.0, is a PHP API that allows you to generate automatically ODF text files from templates.
JasperReports 3.5, an embeddable Java reporting library for developers, now outputs to multiple formats including ODF.
Atlantis Word Processor project announced it will implement support for ODF.
KOffice 2.1, the latest version of the open source office suite now available on the Mac, Windows and Linux, offers better support for ODF, including improved handling of lists and embedded objects.
AbiWord v2.8.2, the latest release of the word processor, includes improved support for ODF.
IBM’s Lotus Symphony 3.0 beta 2 has been launched with improved ODF support.
OpenOffice.org 3.2, the latest version of the open source office suite, is now available for download.
Tables 1.5.4 , a spreadsheet for the Mac OS X, offers improved import and export of ODF files.
Gnumeric 1.10, the latest version of the GNOME Office spreadsheet application with improved ODF support, is now available for download.
NEW ODF ALLIANCE MEMBERS
Please welcome the following new ODF Alliance members: Hunt MOT Wandsworth (UK); Dorsey Metrology International (USA); GemaButiks AB (Sweden); IENSIS Instituto Tecnologico Computacional (Brazil); Jura Magazin (Germany); Ashborne Photograpy (UK); New Format AB (Sweden); Inurface Digital Signage (UK); Council Website Design (UK); Abstroose (UK); Retshjælpsselskabet s.m.b.a. (Denmark); Intire Property Management (UK); New-Report (Germany); Quimifactor (Brazil); Datasoft Solutions (Malaysia); Proyecto GNU Venezuela; PC Masters (Germany); Universidade de Estado do Pará (Brazil); Instituto Permaish (Brazil); and Jaya Engineering College (India).
ODF IN THE NEWS
Open Norway: Norwegian Broadcasting Moves to OpenOffice and ODF [Linux Magazine]
European governments help increase ODF interoperability [Gijs Hillenius, OSOR.eu]
Dutch government launches ODF service [Sam Varghese, iTWire]
German government wants open standards and open source [OSOR.eu]
Netherlands Helps Denmark with Open IT [Jasper Bakker, IDG]
Bologna achieves vendor independence for its office applications [OSOR.eu]
Is OpenOffice.org a Threat? Microsoft Thinks So [Glyn Moody, Computerworld UK]
Microsoft EU dispute to last into 2010 [EurActiv]
Google: Firms can ‘get rid’ of Office in a year [Victoria Ho, ZDNet Asia]
Permalink
Send this to a friend
02.16.10
Posted in Apple, Interoperability, Mail, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Office Suites, Open XML, OpenDocument, OpenOffice, Protocol at 6:37 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A new story of migration to Microsoft (due to Apple’s reliance on Microsoft) offers an important lesson about the purpose of Novell’s Mono and Moonlight
AS we have shown before, Microsoft’s supine friends at Apple have helped OOXML and continues doing this. Based on the news about “Office for Mac 2011″ [1, 2], Mac OS X will accommodate more promotion of monoculture the Microsoft way. Matt Asay, for example, is a Mac user who extols the virtues of Microsoft Office and openly mocks OpenOffice.org. That’s apparently what Apple enthusiasts are for. Ironically enough, Canonical has made him a COO (a decision that we criticised in [1, 2, 3, 4]). COO rhymes with coup.
As one of our readers has said repeatedly, Microsoft inserts its APIs and non-standards into the competitors’ products and once that’s ‘injected’ they can proceed to infiltrating the server/desktop side interchangeably. As a specific example, this reader gave Office for Mac OS X (or Entourage). Based on the following new example from Internode, he was right. Internode is moving from FOSS to Microsoft Exchange and here is its explanation:
So what changed?
Snow Leopard was the key.
[...]
Apple delivered a huge corporate software upgrade in Snow Leopard, by tightly integrating Exchange client functionality into the operating system – in Apple Mail, iCal, and Contacts.
Now watch this discussion at Linux Today. “The lockin begins at internode,” says Petem. Rainer Weikusat reconstructs the arguments and starts with: “I have rarely seen such an amazing amount of BS in a single text.” Someone from Citadel writes: “Just wait until the first time Exchange blows itself up. That always happens eventually.” And one person says: “To pick this apart. All of your staff needs to have access to configure your filtering? Wow!!! Just plain WOW!!!”
“I have rarely seen such an amazing amount of BS in a single text.”
–Rainer WeikusatSo anyway, what Microsoft did here is simple. It used proprietary integration with something it controls not to facilitate interoperability but to upsell Microsoft products/stacks. It is the same with Mono and Moonlight. In more or less the same ways, Mono and Moonlight are ramps to Visual Studio, Windows, and other proprietary Microsoft products.
Why are Novell and Microsoft MVP Miguel de Icaza promoting these? We venture to guess that for selfish gain, some people promote this inside GNU/Linux. If their new interests are rewarded by Microsoft, then they would do anything. Stephane Rodriguez told us a couple of years ago: “So far, Microsoft has got all the marketing PR they wanted from “open-source” groups that are remarkably compatible with Microsoft minds. Again, I think those guys are just Microsoft persons who take a pride not to be on their payroll. (DeIcaza told me in the past that he’s rich). [...] DeIcaza took the role of [Microsoft's] Brian Jones, the technical person. (technical person who concentrates on never answering the good questions)…”
Here is Moonlight being used in what seems like a sort of Microsoft advert. Meanwhile we learn from a reader of ours that “Someone made Ada for .NET? (A#)”. Embrace and extend much? █
Permalink
Send this to a friend
02.13.10
Posted in Europe, Free/Libre Software, IBM, Microsoft, Office Suites, Open XML, OpenDocument, Oracle at 5:33 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A potpourri of news from the past week or so, starting with success stories and proceeding to releases of new software that supports OpenDocument Format (ODF)
ODF is facing resistance from Microsoft and its extended family that includes Alex Brown and Miguel de Icaza, as we showed last night. Despite this opposition, ODF keeps winning in more nations and corporations that help dispell the myth of ODF as a “poor man’s standard”. Some of the world’s most civilised nations are embracing ODF. A few days ago we wrote about Norway and now is the time to add some more references, such as:
A week before that we wrote about Denmark, with additional coverage including:
This is a key milestone that can quickly spread to neighbouring countries. Here is the official word from The ODF Alliance, which is appended at the bottom in full.
The ODF Alliance today applauded the final decision of the Danish Parliament requiring the use of open standard document formats by all central government bodies.
There is even a page about it in Facebook and from Brazil come the cheers that accompany a formation of ODF Alliance América Latina. Rob Weir (IBM) wrote: “Time for ODF TC call. Members from US (east, west north and south), Brazil, China, Germany and Japan dialing in.”
Those who study ODF (e.g. most recently in Norway) reach the conclusion that ODF is simply the better option.
Moving on a little, Weir said he was “Discussing release plans for ODFDOM 0.8, our Java libary for ODF. Should be done next week.” This was done a little later and there is a new instructional page about it. Weir and Bob Sutor happen to announce the second beta of Lotus Symphony 3, which is based on OpenOffice.org. Here is an article about it:
IBM/Lotus took another stab at Microsoft Office, releasing a beta 2 version of Symphony 3.0, its free suite of productivity applications.
The much more important release was the release of OpenOffice.org 3.2. It’s an improvement in many ways.
The OpenOffice team have made version 3.2 of the open source office suite for Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Solaris available to download. It offers numerous enhancements over its predecessor which offer both stability and speed benefits. Writer and Calc, for example, should now start twice as fast as in version 3.1.1.
Improved Microsoft Office filters now make it possible to open protected Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (after entering the correct password). The project tem has also improved compatibility with the OpenDocument standard.
More at The Register:
Improvements in the latest release of the open source office suite include faster start-ups, improved compatibility with other office programs, and several new features (with special attention to the Calc spreadsheet program.)
Here is the press release from OpenOffice.org (not Oracle) and more coverage in many different languages [1, 2, 3, 4]. The Master Server is here.
According to this new survey, OpenOffice.org exceeds the market share of 20% in some countries.
Another noteworthy and active project that relates to ODF would be lpOD (previously mentioned in [1, 2, 3]). Git repository access to it is finally available:
Since its beginning the lpOD project has provided regular snapshots of important milestones. Today we are happy to open the access to our Git repository! It is now possible for anyone to check out our developments live.
According to this, Oracle is bringing ODF and databases closer together. These are signs of further commitment. Here is the page in question:
The Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) format defines an XML file format for office applications.
It is getting easier to open ODF files from more and more applications [1, 2], but Apple is lagging behind, as usual. Jan Wildeboer from Red Hat writes: “So I understand why apple doesn’t like flash on iPod, iPhone and iPay but why do they refuse open standards like ODF,ogg?”
Bart Hanssens says that “it’s raining #odf implementations: MS-Office 2010 RC, OOo 3.2 rc5, IBM Symphony 3 beta 2…”
Microsoft Office does not belong there until it implements ODF properly [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. █
Denmark Opts for ODF
Washington, DC, January 29, 2010. The ODF Alliance today applauded the final decision of the Danish Parliament requiring the use of open standard document formats by all central government bodies.
“Today’s decision by Denmark reflects the growing specific demand and support for OpenDocument Format (ODF), especially among governments,” said ODF Alliance managing director Marino Marcich. “Open standards-based interoperability through ODF offers real value to governments in terms of choice of IT solutions, savings, and long-term access to data.”
“Eighteen national and eight provincial governments around the world have now officially endorsed ODF for document exchange.”According to the parliamentary decision, beginning 1 April 2011 governmental authorities in Denmark will be obligated to be able to send and receive documents in formats included in a reference list of open standard formats. ODF is unique as the only editable format listed that fully satisfies the five-part “openness” criteria for open standards for document formats whose use will be obligatory in the public sector. PDF/A-1 is listed for non-editable published documents. The action today was taken in accordance with Danish parliamentary decision B103 of 2006 requiring the government to ensure that the use of information technology by the public sector is based on open standards. The requirement applies to new IT and software purchases and major updates, which must be expense neutral.
“Today’s decision will serve as a model for the many governments planning to put their open standards policies into practice,” added Marcich. “The ability to implement support for the format fully on multiple platforms is an important criterion that the Danish Parliament has added. Vendors should take note of the open standards-based interoperability that their customers, particularly in the public sector, are demanding.”
Eighteen national and eight provincial governments around the world have now officially endorsed ODF for document exchange. For a comprehensive list and description of pro-ODF government policy initiatives, see: http://www.odfalliance.org/resources/Adoptions-ODF-2010-Feb.pdf.
About the ODF Alliance:
The OpenDocument Format Alliance is an organization of governments, academic institutions, non-government organizations and industry dedicated to informing policy makers, IT administrators and the public on the benefits and opportunities of ODF.
Permalink
Send this to a friend
02.12.10
Posted in Formats, Free/Libre Software, GNOME, GNU/Linux, ISO, Microsoft, Novell, Office Suites, Open XML, OpenDocument at 11:29 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: More of the usual gameplay from people who have made a career out of helping Microsoft expand its circles of influence/dominance
MICROSOFT’S “Insider Friend, ‘the Fox’” Alex Brown [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21] is “Looking at the pubic review text of #ODF 1.2 pt 1″ and saying that “some bits still very ropey”
What an unsurprising statement coming from the man who essentially conspired to help Microsoft corrupt ISO’s integrity while he marketed OOXML around the UK.
“ISO is dead for software standards. Do you need an official funeral?”
–Benjamin Henrion, FFII
Moreover, just very recently Alex Brown was seen defending Microsoft’s deviation from ODF [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] — a deviation which is only fragmenting and complicating everything.
Brown is joined by Microsoft MVP Miguel de Icaza. They are acting like Microsoft reps, to whom Simon Phipps (Oracle) replies with: “My view is that ODF should now just transclude the OOXML formula spec, but that’s probably controversial”
“To an outsider, it would probably seem clear that de Icaza is a Microsoft employee or partner who wishes that ODF just went away.”De Icaza seems very eager to keep smearing ODF, which is a threat to the top cash cow of the company whose board he serves (CodePlex Foundation board). A little conflict of interests there, no? Anyway, he is linking to his colleague Morten Welinder, who is dissing ODF and closing comments, possibly in order to prevent rebuttals from being posted. Rob Weir responded to de Icaza by saying: “The spec that vendors are implementing is linked to from the ODF TC’s homepage. Novell is on the TC. You know this.”
Maybe he’s playing dumb. After all, he also has loyalties to Microsoft, not just Novell. And guess who else is linking to de Icaza and his colleague (the ODF smear)? That’s right, it’s more noise which feeds those at Microsoft who participated in the corruption of ISO and various standards bodies around the world. They quote de Icaza as though he’s their special buddy (which he is, as he even helped bug resolution in OOXML). To an outsider, it would probably seem clear that de Icaza is a Microsoft employee or partner who wishes that ODF just went away. Why are other Microsoft agents like Microsoft MVP Miguel de Icaza linking to that same post, which is damaging to ODF and not even factual? It’s stuff like this, which makes the question rhetorical.
Miguel de Icaza writes in response to the call-out: “Another Rob Weir swing from Bombastic troll when discussing OOXML to nuanced and apologetic when it comes to ODF”
He’s starting to sound just like another one of those Microsoft employees who are smearing Weir (sometimes by creating smear blogs or calling for resignation).
Weir responds with: “ISO approval is not my success metric for ODF, but rather adopters, users and implementors. By those measure I’m pleased.”
“[I]t seems that Morten isn’t following the ODF development at all.”
–Jomar SilvaAddressing the actual source of the FUD, Morten Welinder criticises formula handling in ODF even though a lot of office suites (excluding Microsoft Office) successfully implemented ODF support for formulas that are also interoperable. Weir showed this using a table and several sample files about a year ago.
It is worth adding that the ODF smear comes from the same group (Gnumeric) that was helping OOXML get past ISO. We wrote about this at the time [1, 2], specifically when there were complaints about GNOME engaging or in general terms helping Microsoft in that regard (Jody Goldberg from Novell got actively involved for example).
Jomar Silva, who is a key person in ODF, says that “it seems that Morten isn’t following the ODF development at all. Simply pathetic !”
Let’s remember what these people are pushing for at ODF’s expense. OOXML is utterly flawed and it annoys so many users of Microsoft Office, based on this new analysis at INC.com: [via Bob Sutor]
For those using older versions of Microsoft Word, or other non-Microsoft word processing software, the new .docx format can be a real pain. It has caused dissension in some workplaces. How to cope with conflicting Microsoft Office formats.
It’s a funny article to read. Microsoft’s own customers loathe OOXML.
ODF is also important because it offers “equal opportunities”, as advogato.org put it:
It is possible to get people to listen if you want to instil Free Software principles, but they have to have a “handle” against which they are forced to act, within the organisation that they work. Or, if they agree with you in principle, but are otherwise hog-tied, they need that “handle” with which to justify their actions to their superiors.
Using the words “Discrimination” and “Equal Opportunities” in the same sentence seems to do the trick.
Jan Wildeboer says that “The ODF TC peeps should really read this gem,” which accurately dissects some of the deception from Microsoft and its promoters. Here is Miguel de Icaza hugging Jeff Atwood from Microsoft. The photo below (from Marcus Griep) is a very recent one and the description of de Icaza’s talk at this event (filled with Microsoft employees and content) goes as follows:
Miguel also showcased MonoTouch, building a simple program in MonoDevelop on Mac OSX, and demonstrating it in the iPhone simulator. Including lots of pro-Linux banter and some pokes at Richard Stallman, Miguel kept the audience interested and amused, which is exactly what the last presentation in an 8-hour day needs.
Yes, it’s the same guy we have come to know ever since he compared Stallman to George Bush. What does that make it his darling Microsoft? Either way, it’s nice of him to ridicule Stallman in front of an apparently Microsoft-dominated audience. It must be a new and entertaining pastime for them. █
From Marcus Griep
Permalink
Send this to a friend
02.09.10
Posted in Europe, Open XML, OpenDocument, Standard at 9:09 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The authorities in Norway justify the country’s decision to reject Microsoft’s standards-hostile ploy
IT was almost 2 years ago that people of Norway were marching in the streets after Microsoft corruption. We wrote about the subject in:
According to this report from IDG, Norway’s final decision to stick with ODF was the correct one. It has received endorsement from the Norwegian Agency for Public Management and eGovernment.
Microsoft’s XML-based office document format, OOXML, does not meet the requirements for governmental use, according to a new report published by the Norwegian Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (DIFI).
The agency wants to start a debate over the report as part of its work on standards in the Norwegian government.
For the Norwegian government, PDF is the recommended file format for publishing noneditable files, while Open Document Format (ODF), the native file format of productivity suites including the open-source OpenOffice.org, is the recommended format for publishing editable files. Versions of PDF, ODF and OOXML have all been adopted as international standards by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).
“They are not implementing all parts of the OOXML standard, so he [technical director of Microsoft Denmark] is lying.”
–Mogens Kühn Pedersen, chair of the Danish Standards Committee
One of our readers has highlighted this comment from the accompanying Slashdot item:
[OOXML] combines “OO” and “XML”, two of the most powerful buzzwords the computing industry has ever seen.
I’m not trying to be funny, either. You wouldn’t believe the number of managers I’ve had to deal with who see those terms, and go apeshit crazy about how good something is. Tell them your technology is “object-oriented”, and they’re sold. Then tell them it involves “XML”, and they absolutely can’t resist it.
Mind you, these people tend to not know a thing about the technical aspects of software development. They don’t know any programming languages, but are convinced that “object-oriented” is the ONLY way. They haven’t got a clue what an XML document even looks like, but insist that it can do anything.
The only thing managers these days slurp up more than “OO” and “XML” are “Web Services”. If Microsoft had named it OOXMLWebServices instead of just OOXML, ODF would’ve been destroyed years ago.
We have written about this deceiving name many times before. It’s also intended to make people (including via search engines) wrongly associate “Open Office” with “Office Open [OOXML]. Microsoft has used these shameless tricks for years. █
“The Norwegian [OOXML] affair was a scandal and we are still pursuing it. We haven’t given up hope of changing the vote back to No, and we hope people who experienced similar travesties in other countries will do the same.”
–Steve Pepper
Permalink
Send this to a friend
« Previous Page — « Previous entries « Previous Page · Next Page » Next entries » — Next Page »
Content is available under CC-BY-SA