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

[Russell Ossendryver]

> I am not convinced that Novell or Miguel has crossed that line yet.

If they have not crossed the line yet, they sure have a foot over it
already.

Miguel submitting comment in MS favor:
http://www.dis29500.org/us-161/#comments,     http://www.dis29500.org/no-8/ and
others and Novell participation in ECMA from the get go seems like concrete
evidence that they pushing the MS agenda.

Calling OOXML a "standard" diametric to what ISO stands for
http://isotc.iso.org/<http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/830949/3672582/3._Guidance_on_the_implications_of_the_ISO_Global_Relevance_policy_for_CEN_standardization?nodeid=5194762>
seem
further evidence that the line is crossed or is about to be.

On Nov 16, 2007 11:57 AM, Christian Einfeldt <einfeldt at gmail.com> wrote:

> hi
>
> On Nov 14, 2007 10:36 AM, Pamela Jones <pj at groklaw.net> wrote:
>
> > My earlier email never appeared, so I'm trying again, shorter:
> >
> > You want folks like the OpenDocument Foundation to be able to do serious
> > damage to ODT, and then the *rest* of us are supposed to pretend they
> > didn't do it?  If we notice and object, *that* causes "fragmentation"?
> >
> > Their course of action was the fragmentation, and we'd be fools to not
> > notice or not care.  Some things can't be undone. This is one of them.
> >
>
> I really cannot disagree with what Pamela is saying here.  Eben Moglen, in
> his "Be Very Afraid Tour" speach, linked below, does a really good job here
> of describing what Pamela is saying above.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YExl9ojclo
>
> And yet, IMHO, it is important to remember that the upside of Novell's
> contributions to FOSS are bigger than the very significant downside of the
> Microsoft deal.  Novell has been relatively good at supporting openSUSE,
> GNOME, and Ximian, for starters.  They have also gotten the trust of people
> outside the FOSS movement for Linux.  Examples are the San Francisco Board
> of Education member whom I mentioned, and my conservative Republican father,
> both of whom were impressed with the fact that Novell was able to force a
> deal with Microsoft, who would much rather strangle Novell and be done with
> it.
>
> And there is another point to consider here:  who among here can raise
> their hands and say that they use only gNewSense, which, along with Ututo-e,
> are the only truly Free Software distros out there?  It is true that the
> difference between using, say, Ubuntu with non-Free packages as an
> individual user, on the one hand, and making a Novell - type deal with
> Microsoft on the other hand, is quite vast.  But the point that I am making
> is that our Free Software revolution is yet young, and we have a long road
> ahead of us.
>
> We are going to need a lot of allies if we are going to bring true
> competition and freedom to the global desktop market.  It's true that the
> Novell - Microsoft deal raises a lot of problems as articulated by Pamela
> Jones and Roy Schestowitz's "boycott Novell" site and Eben Moglen's "Be Very
> Afraid Tour."  So it is appropriate that we keep explaining to the press and
> to Novell the reasons why we think the Novell - Microsoft deal was
> problematic; and yet Miguel de Icaza and Novell continue to do some really
> good things for FOSS, such as the very hilarious Novell ads spoofing the
> Apple Mac vs PC commercials:
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=novell+linux+commercial&search=Search
>
> Those ads have generated well in excess of two million views, and
> presumably not all of those views are clicks by FOSS fans.  This is just one
> small example of how Novell is helping us achieve what, arguably, is the
> most important task ahead of us now:  increasing the FOSS install base.
>
> So I am asking that while we continue to remind Novell and the world about
> those aspects of the Novell - Microsoft deal that we did not like, we
> continue to exert our efforts to push Novell and GNOME toward support truly
> open Free Software solutions.  In order to do this, we will need to have
> actual friendly relationships with Novell.  Friends sometimes deeply
> disappoint us, and yet, on balance, until they irretrievably cross the line,
> we can still call them our friends.  I am not convinced that Novell or
> Miguel has crossed that line yet.
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
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