Freitag Juni 03, 2005

Simon Phipps' comment regarding Microsoft's announcement
I just found this in Simon Phipps' blog:
"The OASIS process by which OpenDocument was defined is such a process and indeed Microsoft, being an OASIS member, did visit and could have easily steered the format to suit their legacy needs - the format is in fact vendor-neutral."
( Jun 03 2005, 10:00:13 PM CEST ) Permalink

RedMonk's Stephen O'Grady on the OASIS OpenDocument format
"On some level these arguments fly in the face of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset that seems to be prevalent within Microsoft divisions that have generated quarter after quarter after quarter of sustained revenue growth, but I think that that mindset is going to have to change in a world that's increasingly driven by macro trends like open source and open standards. Are we at the tipping point in the office format equation was a question I debated with a vendor yesterday, and the answer, in my mind, is not yet. But the Open Document Format is still young, and I do think it ultimately has the power to fundamentally alter the context of discussions around office productivity software. Microsoft can be proactive and aggressively compete on that basis now, or they can ignore the demands of governments and ISVs abroad. I know what I'd choose."
The full blog entry can be found here.
( Jun 03 2005, 08:09:34 PM CEST ) Permalink

Perl Tools for OASIS OpenDocument
An experimental version of Perl tools for the OASIS OpenDocument XML document format standard is available for download.

The package should not be used in production environments yet, but developers are encouraged to test it and to provide feedback. Once user comments, bug fixes and documentation updates are incorporated, the tool will be pubslished at CPAN.

The stable version for the pre-OpenDocument OpenOffice.org XML file format can be found here.

Feedback for both the experimental OpenDocument version (that AFAIK also supports the pre-OpenDocument OpenOffice.org file format) and the stable OpenOffice.org version can be exchanged on the discussion list for the Perl modules.
( Jun 03 2005, 07:34:41 PM CEST ) Permalink

OASIS OpenDocument support
"... and upgrades the major KOffice components to use the OASIS Open Document format, an industry standard allowing better interoperability across applications and platforms."
The full announcement can be found here.
( Jun 03 2005, 04:14:07 PM CEST ) Permalink

"Java Macro PlugIn" for OpenOffice.org & StarOffice
The Java Macro PlugIn home page can be found here, and the English documentation is located here.
( Jun 03 2005, 12:18:23 PM CEST ) Permalink

"Microsoft set to open office via XML formats"
"A potential alternative to Microsoft's formats emerged last week with the news that the Oasis standards group has approved the adoption of the OpenDocument format for office applications as an official standard. [...]

Pryke-Smith said Microsoft would not be adopting OpenDocument, citing backwards compatibility concerns, but did say the company will watch to see how adoption of the standard develops. "We'll respond to customer demand on that," he said. "Our main focus is serving our existing customer base."

It is hardly surprising that Microsoft's file formats have become the de facto standard, given Microsoft's dominant position in the Office applications market, but things could slowly begin to change now that OpenDocument is an Oasis standard, particularly if it gets mandated in the public sector."

The full article can be found here.
( Jun 03 2005, 12:12:06 PM CEST ) Permalink

Chapters 1-3 of "OASIS OpenDocument Essentials" online
"OASIS OpenDocument Essentials—Using OASIS OpenDocument XML is a book in progress written by J. David Eisenberg for O’Reilly & Associates and submitted to an open review process. The content is currently licensed under a Creative Commons License. The result of this work will be freely available on the World Wide Web under the Free Software Foundation’s GNU Free Documentation License."
The files can be found here.
( Jun 03 2005, 09:35:22 AM CEST ) Permalink

"Gosling Says NetBeans 4.1 Recapturing Mo'"
"The latest release comes as NetBeans seems – on the surface – to be losing momentum to the Eclipse Open Source IDE. But, with these new features and a pick-up in developer use, NetBeans is “a long way from dead,” insists Sun’s James Gosling Java creator and now CTO of Sun's Developer Products group."
The full article can be found here.
( Jun 03 2005, 08:40:04 AM CEST ) Permalink

New Thunderbird Features
"Developers of the Mozilla Foundation's open-source e-mail client have added a podcasting feature to its arsenal and improved its defense against phishing attacks. [...] Podcasting is a recent Internet phenomenon which takes its name from Apple Computer's iPod digital audio player. Podcast creators publish sound files online that are then downloaded by interested parties. The technique uses RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, which allows simple forms of content such as blogs to be repetitively syndicated across the Internet and has enabled many people to reach a global audience with self-published radio shows. [...]

Developers list close collaboration with the Lightning Project--which aims to integrate the open-source Sunbird calendaring solution into Thunderbird--as an agenda item for the far-off Thunderbird 2.0 release. They would also like to "solve the information overload problem" common to heavy e-mail users by looking into implementing a tabbed solution similar to the one used by Web browsers such as Firefox, Opera and some third-party Internet Explorer add-ons."

The full article can be found here.
( Jun 03 2005, 08:17:42 AM CEST ) Permalink

Do I need to say more?
"First time I read this I started laughing. After all, it is well past April Fools' Day. And Microsoft can't claim this at least to be any sort of innovation - I've been using OpenOffice.org for at least four years now, and what has been described and defined as the docx, etc, file formats, read like what I already know about the sxw, etc, file formats, albeit with a different name.

It is that that I want to ask about - OpenOffice.org's file formats are quite robust, and are rapidly turning into the standard. Will Microsoft Office follow that already market-driven standard? Now that OpenOffice.org has been accepted in such large markets as Brazil and China?"
This qoute as well as other interesting questions and statements can be found in the comments to Brian Jones's blog.
( Jun 03 2005, 08:06:22 AM CEST ) Permalink

"Microsoft's New Improved XML"
"OpenOffice wins the file format design battle! Microsoft has announced that it has copied certain aspects of OpenOffice's file format implementation. But MS XML retains serious design and implementation problems which deserve to halt its acceptance as a standard."
The full article can be found here.
( Jun 03 2005, 07:54:17 AM CEST ) Permalink

Gartner on Microsoft's XML Announcement
"While XML benefits may be clear to some, Office 12's other benefits are not, and customers will face the toil of migration. [...]
When Microsoft changed the file formats in its Office 97 suite, it was late with converters for older versions of Office and the change forced companies to do wholesale replacements of Office to get to a supportable, usually homogenous Office 97 infrastructure. [...]
While it will be possible for OpenOffice.org and others to more faithfully replicate Microsoft's file format in their applications, Microsoft's rendering engine will not be an open specification."

Apparently, even Gartner believes that Microsoft's approach is not truly open in the sense that allows other vendors to participate. The OASIS OpenDocument XML format standard in contrast is now supported by multiple companies. For example, IBM, Adobe and Sun are members of technical committee. OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, KOffice and IBM's Workplace products are implementing the standard. Thus, why adopt a Microsoft XML format that is not really an open standard, considering the migration costs and efforts to Office 12?
( Jun 03 2005, 07:41:19 AM CEST ) Permalink