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

[Lars Noodén]

Mirko Nasato wrote:
> Well if the specification contains definitions like
> "autoSpaceLikeWord95: specifies whether to auto space as is done in Word
> 6.0/95" it would not be very useful, would it? ;-)

Except I'm not talking about MOOX / Ecma 376 or whatever that is called
this week.  MOOX is F.U.B.A.R. and we all know that, including MS.

All the squawking from MS and MS boosters about 'compatibility' with
XML-based formats is just squawking and irrelevant squawking at that.
The simplest way to read legacy formats is to have the specifications
available for those old formats.

Even in the case of MOOX, those old specifications are needed.  Any
backwards-looking format like MOOX would need those old specifications,
so that it may fill the role as an XML-based version of those outdated
formats.

Marbux mentioned something about the old formats.  I hope the anti-trust
remedies involved the specifications and not just APIs to proprietary
binaries like the application or OS.

> I guess Microsoft formats are just too crappy to be properly documented.

They probably are, but if the court says they are to be documented, then
having proper documentation for these travesties would bring us two
benefits: First there would be the potential for making it easier dfor
third party applications to read the legacy files.  Second, if the
formats are as crappy as they seem to be, MS would potentially burn a
lot of resources documenting them.

However, I write potential benefits which would only be actualized if
the specifications are published.

> No wonder the Apache POI project (a Java library) calls the Word format
> "HWPF" (for Horrible Word Processor Format), Excel "HSSF" (Horrible
> SpreadSheet Format) etc. :-D
> 
>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Jakarta_POI

LOL.  Here's the authoritative link:
	http://poi.apache.org/apidocs/overview-summary.html

Best regards,
-Lars

-- 
Lars Noodén
Ensure access to your data in the future:
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	http://opendocumentfellowship.org/introduction