06.21.07
Xandros Joins Hands with the Anti-ODF Companies That Money Could Buy
Xandros seems to have found bragging rights in its support for a Microsoft monopoly enabler.
“We are delighted to join forces with Microsoft and others to provide interoperability between standardized XML document formats,” said Andreas Typaldos, Xandros CEO.
Who are these “others”? Of course, they are the other 3 companies that Microsoft made predatory deals with (Linspire, Corel, and Novell). Without so-called ‘protection’, one is not even allowed to fully implement and incorporate OOXML support (including the notion of a translator).
It is reassuring to know that our assessment was correct. Microsoft builds a liaison wherein everyone serves the ‘master of the house’ by attempting to catch up with a ’standard’ that is impossible to implement. Mark Shuttleworth and others have already explained why they detest OOXML, which requires ‘patent poison’.
To say more on OOXML’s technical merits (lack thereof), I particularly liked the following analogy from Winter of Groklaw.
Basically, OOXML does NOT in any way offer compatibility with older MS formats. On the contrary. What happens is that OOXML has labels refering to old MS Office code. It is these labels that are put into OOXML. Neither the semantics, nor the code is available. If Office 2007 is not rendering the older formats correctly, then bad luck, end of game. OOXML plays NO part in it.
My take, OOXML is like a street directory without a map. You get the street directory, and MS has the map. Yes all streets are there, in alphabetic order. Can you use it to find your destination? Never.
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.