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What Does the Microsoft ODF Converter Mean?
Andy Updegrove writes "It's been a week now since Microsoft announced its ODF/Office open source converter project - time enough for 183 on-line stories to be written, as well as hundreds of blog entries (one expects) and untold numbers of appended comments. Lest all that virtual ink fade silently into obscurity, it seems like a good time to look back and try to figure out what it all means. In this entry, I report on a long chat with Microsoft's Director of Standards Affairs Jason Matusow, and match up his responses with the official messaging in the converter press release. The result is a picture of a continuing, if slow and jerky, evolution within Microsoft as those that recognize market demands for more openness debate those that want to follow the old way. This internal divide means that the proponents of change need to point to real market threats in order to justify incremental changes. This adaptation by reaction process leaves Microsoft still lagging the market, but has allowed those that favor a more open approach to gradually turn the battle ship a few degrees at a time."
When will "hobbiest dabblers" realize that nobody uses TeX/LaTeX outside of academics and people with the title of "Typesetter"? In non-Slashdot reality, tools like FrameMaker and Quark/InDesign are used much more in publishing than TeX/LaTeX. (And even these tools are generally only as the final production step -- the writing and editing is done in a word processor.)
Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
I will not give money to a company that hurts my industry and the overall economy if I don't need to.
Wow. Do you seriously think that the company that made it so that every retard on the planet can and does use a computer is "hurting your industry"? Do you have two brain cells to rub together? How, exactly, do they "hurt the economy"? By creating billions of dollars in revenue every year which is paid out to the shareholders? By creating hundreds of thousands of jobs? Try using your brain. The biggest threat to "your industry" and "your economy" is Open Source Software. Yo'uve got legions of clueless fanboys (like yourself) giving perfectly good code away for some stupid, bullshit, short-sighted idealistic ideas that actually put people like you out of work. Try using your brain, buddy. You're an unthinking drone.
I believe that OOo will strive to maintain compatibility, while M$FT really will not bother.
Actually if the plugin doesn't maintain compatibility, you'll only have open source coders to blame.