Bonum Certa Men Certa

Open XML and Its Media Coverage Are Flawed by Design

There appears to be no gentle way to put this, but there's still disturbing bias in the media, which sometimes sticks its fingers in its ears and sings "La la la". Either it does not understand the issues, or it simply does not want to understand the issues (a matter of convenience or the bliss of ignorance).

As it stands, Novell is helping Microsoft. It's in the contract, so there needn't be a conspiracy theory developing. Byfield's 'apoligism' continues and Sam Varghese seems to respond to this issues at hand.

...there seems to be a manufactured air of defeatism around - as Byfield puts it, "Whether or not OOXML becomes an official ISO standard, it will still become unofficial standard (sic), simply because Microsoft Office is the main office program used on computers." Why is this so?

If this kind of defeatist attitude had been there from the time Richard Stallman decided to create free software for use by everybody, would we have even come close to the stage we are at?


Sam is right on target. We must wake up and realise the implications of our actions before it's too late. The GNOME Foundation has been challenged many times to step up and reverse its deeds. There is truly nothing to see in OOXML and as further proof of this, here's some news which proves that only Microsoft and Microsoft Office actually implement something that resembles OOXML.

A new beta of the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac has appeared on Microsoft's web site, but there is no indication of any functional changes.


Remember that even Microsoft itself is not using DIS29500 (its own specification). This means that even Office 2007 would not be ISO-compliant. This also means that DIS29500 has never been implmented properly. It's vapourware.

In an answer to a question on this issue, it turned out that, apparently, Office 2007 is not even using the ECMA standard.

Does anyone know the specifics of the difference between the ECMA Standard or for that matter DIS29500 and the OOXML being used in Office?

I believe I've seen 'Marbux' mentioning the lack of Sharepoint hooks/fields/tags in DIS29500 while there is an abundance of them in MSO2007 created files.

You can look at this from a few angles: 1) First, Office 2007 writes out things that are not described in the OOXML standard,such as scripts, macros, DRM, etc. Try encrypting a document in Office 2007. It is not longer even a zip file + XML at that point. 2) Also, I've heard reports that Office 2007 does not implement all of the features described in the OOXML specification. I haven't verified this myself, but I've seen reports that using some of the extensibility features of Part 5 of the standard will cause Word to crash. 3) Keep in mind as well that Office 14 (Office 2009) has been in progress for over a year now. The beta 1 release will be in early 2008. Presumably this has already extended OOXML as needed to handle the new features of Office 2009.

There is no editor reference application for Office Open XML

I think you'd be well advised to launch Micorosoft Office and try to save a file in the format specified by the draft standard at ISO. You can't. There is no compatibility mode in Office that limits input to the feature set specified in the official Office Open XML draft ISO standard. I have spent hundreds of hours poring through those 6,000-plus pages and comparing them to the undocumented APIs used by Office recently disclosed in litigation. http://www.groklaw.net/pdf/Supp_Rpt_Andrew_Schulman.pdf It is beyond question that in the Office Open XML draft standard, Microsoft disclosed only a crippled subset of the markup and functionality of its new file formats. But Microsoft has not enabled a compatibility mode for the feature set it put in the draft standard. Office can read Office Open XML, but is only a file viewer for that draft standard. How can you rationally suggest that there can be interoperability if everyone supports the Office Open XML specification? Particularly when Microsoft itself won't allow its customers to write to that format? Even when Microsoft released the feature crippled RTF format for interoperability, it supported both read and write capabilities in Office. But the new feature crippled Office Open format is a one-way format. Applications can send Office Open files to Microsoft Office, Office can open those files, but any edits are saved in a different format! May I respectfully suggest that your company is beyond question attempting to have a vendor lock-in format adopted as an international standard? The claims of openness are absurd. Even Microsoft Office doesn't write to that format


OOXML on the trash canThe arguments above hopefully sum up some of the problems which are typically overlooked. OOXML should be shunned (garbage can on the left) because it's somewhat of a decoy. It's intended to deceive governments that weigh in on ODF and it's intended to pretend that other programs can suddenly implement better Office compatibility. Remember: XML by its own right is not open, never mind the proprietary and O/S-dependent extensions OOXML contains (or doesn't bother to specify at all).

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

XBox is Rapidly Turned Into a Slopfarm by Microsoft
Slop isn't about efficiency and saving money
Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
Microsoft's Halloween Documents and systemd, Wayland, Etc.
Maybe one day Wayland will be widespread. Or maybe not.
 
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Smolweb and Alhena 5.1.7
Links for the day
The Danes Want GNU/Linux
David Heinemeier Hansson recently moved to GNU/Linux
Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
There's Still Hope for the World Wide Web
Let's hope that the trajectory of the Web won't be leading us to over-reliance on Google, nor will it reward worthless slopfarms
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Another OSI Scandal, This One Implicating Molly de Blanc
OSI has been fairly quiet lately
Outreachy & Debian pregnancy cluster, Meike Reichle evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Again, "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
Microsoft Lunduke is not trying to "protect" Linux
One of the Most Hilarious Things About the Microsoft SLAPPs
It's so ridiculous
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025