Bonum Certa Men Certa

Does Microsoft Want to Kill ISO More Than Its Wants to Win an ISO?

ODF formatFirst and foremost, it is important to emphasise that ISO is just a part of a bigger battle. To remind ourselves of this fact consider a new contribution from a reader who wrote in to say:




Denmark's public sector requires OOXML or ODF. Microsoft Office supports neither, so it is one suite that will be locked out of Danish government. OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, Symphony, and others all get the green light:




Here is the new article which back his assessment but only to an extent.

Denmark's public sector will not be affected if Microsoft's latest file format is rejected or accepted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a government official said Wednesday.


Our reader speaks of open and well-documented standards that are implemented with an open source reference design, which also happens to be available for reuse (LGPLv3-licensed, for a good reason). It all aligns pretty well with this decent new article from a standards expert. He talks about the symbiotic relationship between open source software and open standards.

The acceptance and success of open source development methodologies pose both a challenge and an opportunity for standards organizations such as the JCP. Some argue that standards are less necessary in an open-source world, or that the collaborative efforts of open source communities can develop "de facto standards" in a more agile manner than the more traditional standards bodies whose processes are necessarily more cautious and time-consuming. I believe that both open standards and open source are necessary; they can and should complement each other. Open standards are essential to enable multiple competing implementations, protecting against vendor lock-in.


The definition of open standards is in jeopardy though, or at least their formal approval and status. See SubSonica's comment right here. It is defended very strongly by the following blog spot which explains why Microsoft will gain in case it successfully ruins ISO altogether.

Hasn't anyone learned anything over the last few years. It doesn't matter if OOXML is approved or not. All that matters is that the process that gave ODF it's international standing is ruined. ODF got where it is today because it is an international standard, not because it is necessarily the answer to every possible question. People believed in the ISO process and believed that a standard with their seal of approval was actually worth something in the real world. By badgering, bribing and threatening, Microsoft has effectively destroyed the ISO process. So who cares if OOXML becomes a standard or not? No one if there isn't gold standard for it to be judged against. While ODF was a saint, the sinner of OOXML looked very dark and shabby. Now Microsoft has cast doubt on the lineage of ODF everyone is a sinner.


It is a sad truth and the quote below validates it further.

"We want to own these standards, so we should not participate in standards groups. Rather, we should call 'to me' to the industry and set a standard that works now and is for everyone's benefit. We are large enough that this can work." ۦ

--Microsoft Corporation, internal memo (source [compressed PDF])

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Terms of Service (TOS) Under Scrutiny - Part XV - "Zoom's terms of service change sparks worries over AI uses" (and More)
Then they wonder why users get all grumpy?
IBM is Cutting - Almost in Half - Its Office Space in Austin, So Expect Many Layoffs (RAs)
IBM reduces office space by 187,00 square feet or 37%
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 07, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, September 07, 2024
They Used to Say Avoid Nginx (or NGINX) Because It's Russian. Now You Can Say Avoid It Because It's Microsoft.
Thankfully we quit using NGINX when we shut down our HTTP proxy for Gemini
Peter Eckersley and 'Afterlife'
It's better to look after one's health at present than to pursue all sorts of perceived 'insurance' policies
Instead of Telegram People Should Use Free Software (Telegram Was Always Unsafe for Use)
"Modern" so-called 'smart' 'phones' are compromised at the OS level or baseband side
Techrights is a Demonstrably Popular Site, Reporting Suppressed Facts. Those Vouching for Its 'Unpopularity' Express a Desire Rather Than a Condition or a Fact.
Our 100% source protection record will hold up
Terms of Service (TOS) Under Scrutiny - Part XIV - Zoom the Beast
breakdown of the Zoom TOS and corresponding privacy statement
FSFE: Donate to Us to Co-Fund With Microsoft the Unpaid Underage Labour, YH4F
Latest from FSFE
 
Terms of Service (TOS) Under Scrutiny - Part XVI - When Radio is No Longer "Read-Only" (Listening Mode) Because Someone Listens and Sells Your Data
Who would want to put up with this?
redhat.com is Promoting Revisionism and Lies Regarding the Origin of the Term "Open Source"
debunked many times before
Software Patents Against GNU/Linux Again
Patent extortion against OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Gemini Links 07/09/2024: Self Hosting (Not "CLOUD") and Site Reliability Engineering
Links for the day
The Arrest of Pavel Durov is Changing Telegram
Remember that Telegram's founder, who is also French, cannot leave France until he satisfies those who detained him
The Growth of GNU/Linux is Now a Mainstream Topic With Widespread Awareness
We can do less counting (of baskets and eggs) and more advocacy
The Free Software Movement Must Not Assume That Truth and Science Always Win
Sometimes the bad people and the liars get ahead
John Pilger's Site Relaunches, Wikileaks' Site Has Not Been Updated in Years
We have long hoped that, more so after the release of Assange, Wikileaks will have some kind of "relaunch" or recovery
Rage in the Propaganda Machine
There has never been a better time to quit social control media
Certificate Authorities (CAs) Are Serving the Authorities, Not You
The centralised CAs "model" is not working
A Terms of Service (TOS) Notion of "Consent"
We're well past the true notion of real consent
Links 07/09/2024: Qualcomm May Buy Parts of Intel, YouTube Deletes Channels for the US Government
Links for the day
No, Mastodon is Not Growing, Social Control Media is Generally Waning
Our sister site pulled the plug on the whole thing over a year ago, seeing it was mostly a source of online abuse
A Loss for Fake Security, a Win for Net Autonomy
Crucifixion of domains has been ramping up this past week; it's a cautionary signal
Links 07/09/2024: UK Police Raid Journalist's Home, Epoch Times Setbacks, and Karma
Links for the day
Links 07/09/2024: China's Financial "Bond" to Africa and Attempts to Postpone Trump Criminal Cases
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 06, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, September 06, 2024
linuxsecurity.com is Still Spamming the Web
This is not harmless to Linux and it definitely merits a shun
Gemini Links 07/09/2024: Freedom in Bareness, Reactions in Addictive Social Control Media
Links for the day
Why We Are Suing Matthew J. Garrett for Harassment and Why It's Important to Everybody in the Community
There's a limit to how much abuse to me and to my family I can tolerate for the act of merely reporting on corporate corruption
[Meme] Confused Michael
Teaser...
Links 06/09/2024: Censorship of Sites by US, Hype Around LLMs Noted
Links for the day
[Meme] Hijacking the Brands
"Linux? Ah, you mean Microsoft!"
Google: We Help Combat What We Are Guilty of
The search itself is a conflict of interest
Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board Has Election, But Google is Already Guaranteed Over 33.3% of the Seats ('Reserved' for It)
It has too much power/influence and it looks like a stacked panel
[Video] Theodore Ts'o Says How He Brought Linux to the United States (MIT) and What Makes Linux Leadership Effective
Microsofters keep attacking him
Layoffs Are Healthy and Not Happening
Good news for a change?
[Meme] Trickle-Down Ponzi Scheme
Where does money actually come from?
Considering Microsoft's Totally Fake Finances It Too is at Risk of Being Delisted From the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Other Indexes (NASDAQ, S and P) in the Near Future
Microsoft and Apple both had many layoffs this year
Asking Ourselves What Topics to Strategically Focus on
A lot of the tech media - if not "mainstream" media too - is already covering the growth of GNU/Linux
Media Needs to Stop Asking If "AI" is Just Hype (It Is, It's Not a Question)
The media should stop asking if the "AI" thing is bubble about to pop
Lots of GNU/Linux Detected in Palau and Windows Falls to New All-Time Low (14%)
Windows is falling further
Gemini Links 06/09/2024: Degoogling, LLMs, and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 05, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, September 05, 2024