[odf-discuss] Gnome Foundation and ECMA

[Janet Hawtin]

im here hoping for useful thoughts to take forward
i appreciate it is a complex situation

would it be possible to use the attention on this issue to work
through a list of explicit legal issues for free software regarding
implementing ooxml?

it would also be useful to know if there are any legal issues
wrg2 odf or other options in this space.
ie if we dont have a best of breed legally safe standard at this point what
are the sticking points.

i would be very interested in learning specifically about the following issues.
- the ooxml spec refers to external material which is explicitly not
legal to use?
- legal safety is void if youre ever in court with MS for any issue?
- this includes copyright issues and not just the standard patent quagmire?

- is there any way to make it clear to iso that if it is not legal to use
it is pointless to process?
- is there any aspect of the process which looks at fit for purpose in
terms of legal safety to implement?

stepping back from the legal issues what does a good solution look like?
- what would an ideal iso process look like?
- what does an explicit correct clean standard look like?
- what xml standards exist which cover this ground?
- can a standard for documents be broken into interoperable components
which are smaller and more viable for small firms/developers to
implement than 12 reams of material which is not explicit or self
contained?
- many smaller standards might be annoying or costly to work with so
are there useful hinge points where the work could be 'jointed'

there seems to be a range of work being done close to this issue and
it would be great to keep the energy around legally safe free best practice?
if that isnt in * vendor interests surely there are enough people/coders
who just want reliable legal data interoperability in our midst?

the above is my take on the kinds of questions which were asked in the
AU meeting. it seems there is certainly room for something both
legally and technically better. how do we get to it?