[odf-discuss] Response from a GNOME Foundation board director

[Jody Goldberg]

Again, please contact me directly if you have questions.  It would
avoid silliness like this.

On Wed, Oct 31, 2007 at 12:06:00PM -0400, Pamela Jones wrote:
> He's now helping Microsoft to resolve the comments?
I haven't.  

>> --- robert_weir at us.ibm.com wrote:
>> From: robert_weir at us.ibm.com
>> To: ODF Discussion List <odf-discuss at opendocumentfellowship.com>
>> Subject: Re: [odf-discuss] Response from a GNOME Foundation board director
>> Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:35:46 -0400
> 
>> The practical difficulty here is that of timing.  While I have no doubt 
>> that Jody was instrumental in getting additional technical disclosures 
>> from Microsoft back in 2006, Ecma TC45 is not in that mode of operation 
>> right now.  The OOXML standard Ecma 376 has already been approved by Ecma. 
>>  It is now before JTC1 as DIS 29500 and the text is essentially frozen 
>> since December 2006.  The only changes that can be made to it must be in 
>> response to specific JTC1 national body ballot comments.  Jody can no 
>> longer go to a TC45 meeting and say, "Gee, I'd like more information added 
>> on X, Y and Z".  JTC1 rules forbid changes to the standard that are not 
>> traceable to a national body comment.

That opinion is debatable.  ECMA as the body proposing the
specification (and TC45 by proxy) has standing to preemptively bring
forward issues with proposed resolutions at the BRM.  In the period
between TC45 sending the spec on to ECMA and then on to ISO for
review I continued to evaluate OOX, generating a couple dozen
additional issues that required clarification.  These were put
forward to the TC.  They could have been submitted via the Canadian
standards organization which I joined for the purpose of this
discussion.   However, it seemed more likely to get it resolved
going directly to MS, than indirectly.

I have not been involved in issue resolution.  My Gnumeric time is
very limited and prefer to spend it coding, or in work that will
facilitate it's development.