[odf-discuss] FW: [ilta-opensource] Open document format

[Jerry Askew]

Hi all,

The following was submitted to the ILTA Open Source list today.
Hopefully we'll get some response from the group.

-----Original Message-----
From: <removed> 
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 3:44 PM
To: ILTA Open Source Software Peer Group Listserv (with Third Party Tech
Support Participation)
Subject: [ilta-opensource] Open document format

Hello,

We have a major "standards" decision upcoming in the area of document
formats which will affect law firms. On one hand we have the
OpenDocument (ODF) format which has already been approved as a standard,
and a new "fast-track" attempt by Microsoft to get a duplicate document
standard approved (OOXML).

As law firms have experienced, competitive document formats are a
hassle. We've been there with the WordPerfect file format conversion
issues, as well as experienced problems within versions of MSOffice
itself. The legal industry, as well as many other industries, needs a
document format that is open and accessible for every document
production software and vendor.

If you would like to provide your input into this decision, please
contact ANSI as soon as possible and ask them to slow down, and
seriously consider what the ramifications of duplicate XML document
standards will be for our industry. OpenDocument is already a standard,
and has already been adopted by many countries and governmental bodies.
A duplicate "standard" will only complicate things for us and cause
ongoing problems with sharing documents.

More information regarding this can be found at
http://www.grokdoc.net/index.php/EOOXML_objections .  There are a number
of technical reasons as well as political reasons to carefully consider
this decision. I was struck by a session that Jerry Askew did at the
last conference where he showed the technical differences between the
document formats. ODF is a fully developed standard that also allows for
incorporation of the open legalXML standard.

Please take a moment and let the ANSI standards body know of our desire
for a single document standard in the future. These are the ANSI
contacts:

lrajchel at ansi.org
jgarner at itic.org
sdesaute at ansi.org

WIPO also represents us in the decision and a contact for them is:

angel.lopezsolanas at wipo.int