03.06.07
Promoting a Competitor to Openness, on Behalf of Your New Partner
Novell has just helped Microsoft in its fight against OpenDocument — that which decentralises control over standards — by demonstrating that OpenOffice can support Open XML format, regardless of how poor the translation may be. Think of it as proof of concept; a prototype maybe. Of course, at present, OOXML is headed towards failure, for a heap of reasons. Microsoft truly needed this step from Novell, which was probably inevitable. It comes at a crucial time, which isn’t necessarily coincidental.
Have a look at the comments, e.g. “Wow, and it’s just as bad as the MCAN translator!”. But who didn’t see this coming? It is very important that this ‘monopoly enabler’, in its present state, gets rejected.
But the number of countries with reservations about Open XML in its current form remains large enough that the format might not be approved by ISO if it were put to a vote Thursday.
This is unsurprisingly similar to concerns over Samba. Novell’s partnership with Microsoft helps Microsoft defend itself, especially when ridiculous documentation is involved, not to mention royalties and legal risks. Corel and Novell continue to be used as depedable puppets which promote anti-competitive ’standards’ and practices. And this is not good for anyone, apart for those who share so-called IP in this exclusionary pact.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
Stephane Rodriguez said,
March 6, 2007 at 2:13 am
A commenter said “it’s just as bad as the MCAN translator”.
No, it IS the MCAN translator. It is the CleverAge plugin, therefore all its weaknesses apply. (Word-only at the moment, subset of actual functionalities, lack of understanding of underlying semantics (due to Microsoft’s 15-year worth of binary secrecy, …)
Stephen said,
March 6, 2007 at 7:56 pm
Umm, Openoffice already supports Microsoft formats (doc, xls and ppt). Who cares? Standards were already decentralised, all that’s true now is the Openoffice can at least work with “more” and the reality is there will be many MS Offices sold.