01.20.08
Closed Formats Require Standardisation Through a Closed Process
Thousands of comments on OOXML, which Microsoft and its partners apparently try to hide and make unavailable (or too cumbersome for many to access for further scrutiny), were put here, but bandwidth has apprently just run out.
“This is absolutely unacceptable. It’s outrageous, scandalous even.”Little time is left before the BRM begins and it seems more and more obvious by the day that Microsoft hopes to be the supervisor, the moderator, the voter, the maintainer, and the gatekeeper. This is absolutely unacceptable. It’s outrageous, scandalous even. Who can possibly approve such sociopathic behaviour in a process that was supposed to involve gentlemen?
This OOXML fiasco is far from the first. We could truly learn a lesson from Windows-only graphics. Remember OpenGL, the ‘ODF of graphics’?
Small comment again. Got into a discussion over OpenGL. Now, as I’ve posted before, I hold that DirectX is a dead format. It’s a proprietary API that locks developers out of the maximum number of systems they can publish on.
[…]
The second is… Microsoft. What makes this even more odd is that I know that unlike Nintendo, Microsoft used to be part of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board. So…
The next time someone says to you that Microsoft supports open Standards… point out that Microsoft left OpenGL in 2003… and hasn’t made any effort to rejoin.
Microsoft is still hoping to escape into the horizon with its so-called ‘ISO standard’, which it then will work on and extend in isolation, just as Brian Jones pretty much predicted. If there are lessons to be learned which pertain to labour, complexity and cost, it’s in OpenGL and DirectX. Try approaching NVIdia and ATI/AMD engineers who need to support two APIs rather than one universal API. █
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.
Yuhong Bao said,
January 20, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Keep in mind that MS does not expect all OOXML implementations to support all of OOXML. For example, MS does not expect other OOXML implementations to support VBA, OLE, or IRM.
wormy said,
January 20, 2008 at 11:43 pm
BoycottNovell.com is a refreshing light in the dark anal web of Microsoft bought-out media mafia on-line publications. Thank you for your work, may it always continue.