[odf-discuss] Sun's OpenDocument filter for MS office released

[Lars Noodén]

marbux wrote:
> They are a poor target for interoperability in any event because there are
> so many versions, 

Yes.  However, much of the hot air from the MS boosters has been about
the mounds of legacy documents in those many versions of formats.

The conversations and debates quickly get steered away from the point
that being able to read the mounds of legacy documents does not require
MOOX, MS Office, left-handed spoke shifters, and ST-1 module or any
other expensive and shoddy tools.  It needs the details of the formats.

> ... might be more productive to push for full specification of those
> APIs and their manipulation. (Microsoft is already required to do so
> by the U.S. v. MIcrosoft consent decree.)  Those APIs are a far simpler 
> and more stable target for interoperability development.

The consent decree may be the most strategically valuable bit of
information to turn up in this thread or even whole set of threads.

However, I have to ask if you meant specification or API?  Does the
consent decree refer to publishing the *specification* for the data
format or only to the *APIs* which are tied into MS Office and/or MS
Windows?  The former is very useful, the latter is worse than useless.

> I also think it likely that Microsoft will eliminate the ability for Office
> users to write to the binary formats in the next version or two, making
> them import-only ...

Agreed, though I would posit that the goal there is not
interoperability, but simple to advance lock-in via MOOX / Sharepoint /
Infopath.   It's the old roach-motel method.  Data goes in but can't get
out.

All the debate about whether OpenDocument or MOOX or Ecma 376 support or
don't support MS' zoo of legacy formats can be dropped if the
specifications become available.

Best regards,
-Lars
--
Lars Noodén
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