Tuesday October 14, 2008 OpenOffice.org and archiving
At the ODF Workshop last week, a number of the delegates were asking about the right way to handle archiving of their documents. Obviously ODF offers a baseline file format that promises long-term readability and editability, but the question remains of how best to handle files. With the release of OpenOffice.org 3.0, there are now two alternatives, and we heard at the conference of a third alternative coming in the future from ODF.
ODF plus PDF
Most of the archivists I have spoken to have insisted that one should always keep the original document in its original format, regardless of other choices. The easiest option for archiving is to retain the original file, with an optional copy filtered to ODF if the original is not in ODF, and then accompany the file with a PDF image. Technology exists to automatically create all this.PDF Container
OpenOffice.org includes extensive new PDF handling features, including PDF/A support, access to PDF's distribution and use controls and the ability to include the original ODF in a "container" inside a "hybrid PDF". This last feature offers a fine archiving alternative, where a single file is created but within it the original ODF is retained for future use.Read-Only ODF
At the workshop, we heard from Jomar Silva on the future of ODF 1.2. One of the features he described was signed, read-only ODF, allowing the preservation of the document exactly as used (it's on slide 4).
Choosing which to use is obviously a decision for each archiving authority, but the richness of the new PDF support means that the options open to arhcivists just grew enormously.
Posted by webmink
( Oct 14 2008, 04:01:45 AM PDT )
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links for 2008-10-14
- Steal This Comic
xkcd points out that anyone who engages in the DRM-haunted part of the music market is bound to break the law in the end. - Sun's 4-chip CMT system raises the bar
If you remember "Thumper" (which puts 24TB of reliable storage into a 4U box), then you might identify this amazing new system Sun just released as the "Thumper of CPUs" - 255 processors in 4U yet still energy efficient. And the processors are open source. - Sun Student Technology Camps
The next one is in the San Francisco Bay area and covers open source. High school kids welcome too. Looks pretty cool. - Ministers shelve 42-day detention
Amazing it took this long for them to spot the problem with their legislation, but welcome nonetheless.
Posted by webmink
( Oct 14 2008, 01:04:00 AM PDT )
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