03.03.08
Bob Sutor on the BRM: “Utter and Predictable Embarrassment”; Red Hat Also Chimes In
As a new week begins and discussion resumes, we begin to see reactions. IBM’s has Sutor posted a long response and here is a gist of the problems he highlights.
Of all the “condensed” resolutions from ECMA, approximately 82% were not discussed at all, including counter proposals for these same issues. That leaves about 18% that were either discussed and voted on or else voted on early in batch. (I’m fine with batch votes for minor typographical fixes.)
What an utter and predictable embarrassment.
Red Hat, which is affected a great deal by what’s at stake, has responded as well.
The first pitch was thrown in Geneva last week at the ISO ballot resolution meetings on OOXML. And we can safely say: strike one! There was no renouncement of the OOXML standard by Microsoft. Instead, every indication was business as usual.
[…]
I, for one, would welcome some sunshine on the process and urge that ISO make the reported audio recordings of the Geneva meetings publicly available.
It remains to be seen if ISO will spill the beans and reveal what actually happened there in the secretive meeting [1, 2].
It was a mess and a shame. ISO could use some toppling. Alex Brown’s response to Andy Updegrove already attracts some curious reactions. As pointed out the other day, Brown is being defensive. █
Back in the trash can
where it belongs
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.