[odf-discuss] Microsoft and Novell cooperate on document formats

[Alex Hudson]

Lars D. Noodén wrote:
> Not to me.  Which part are you thinking of?  There seems to be no
> assurance that OOo can gain independent use of MOOX, or without
> strings develop OOo for MOOX.

That assurance isn't part of the deal; Novell already have it. I haven't
seen an example of any developer who has stopped OXML development
because of IPR/other "strings" getting in the way.

> The productivity suite monopoly is currently maintained largely
> through the format.  OOo supporting that format won't loosen the
> grip.  If the support is less than perfect, then you also have the
> lost work that could have been spent on something productive instead. 

It doesn't really matter if the support is less than perfect; OOo's
support for .doc is less than perfect. If OOo didn't have any .doc
support, I could not use it - no matter how good its OpenDocument
support. You *have* to be able to read MS Office files, that's not
negotiable.

Re: the IPR thing - it's in every story, I'm not sure how you missed it!
There is a joint agreement which covers Microsoft and Novell products,
and a separate deal for individual free software developers. The details
aren't clear yet because they're not final though.

-- 
Alex Hudson
IT Director, Stratagia Ltd.
P: 0845 226 17 13     W: http://www.stratagia.co.uk/
F: 0845 226 17 14     E: alex (at) stratagia.co.uk