[odf-discuss] Fwd: W3C Lead on CDF says OpenDocument Fellowship Position on CDF Makes No Sense

[Lars Noodén]

J David Eisenberg wrote:
>
> ... I have yet to see how CDF exhibits "compatibility with existing MS 
> documents." ...

That canard should no longer be brought out, especially by well-read
participants.

*Applications* may achieved "compatibility with existing MS documents"
if and only if said application developers have full access to and
unhindered use of the specifications for the formats those "existing MS
documents" are encoded in.  Conversion to a new format, regardless of
the intent of the design, is at best a lot of work.  Best let the legacy
documents alone and simply have the vendor cough up the specifications
rather than excuses.

Whether or not ODF is "perfect" and solves all document format problems
for everybody for all time, or not, is less important than the fact that
it is a necessary first step in that direction.

Regards,
-Lars