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MS Awarded "Best Campaigner Against OOXML"
HansF writes "Microsoft itself is the surprise winner of the FFII's Kayak Prize 2007, offered by the FFII in its call for rejection of Microsoft's OOXML standards proposal. The software monopolist is honored as 'Best Campaigner against OOXML Standardization.' FFII president Pieter Hintjens explains, 'We could never have done this by ourselves. By pushing so hard to get OOXML endorsed, even to the point of loading the standards boards in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, and beyond, Microsoft showed to the world how poor their format is. Good standards just don't need that kind of pressure. All together, countries made over ten thousands technical comments, a new world record for an ISO vote. Microsoft made a heroic — and costly — effort to discredit their own proposal, and we're sincerely grateful to them.'" If Microsoft doesn't send a representative to claim their 2500-Euro prize at the FFII General Assembly in November, FFII will give the money to Peruvian earthquake relief.
In addition, MS has helped IT security improve more than any other company.
Gifts for Geeks - Stuff that really matters!
They nearly won, and it isn't over yet - there is another vote coming up in Februrary.
My rights don't need management.
I've already started seeing .docx format attachments in my email at the office. Never mind the fact that my office is nearly 100% Linux/FOSS (except for the sole Windows machine running proprietary apps requiring outdated API's); I'd figured that since the vast majority of companies I've seen haven't (yet) started to migrate to Office 2007 then maybe sending .docx fils to everyone might not be such a smart move. For now we simply kick these emails back along with a friendly reminder that we don't do .docx or OOXML here, and will never accept anyhting in that format.
Microsoft says the 'O' in 'OOXML' stands for "open". My ass...
This space for rent!
Their message is "I am cool. I use the newest stuff. My dick is bigger than yours".
A better analogy would be the Yen Buddhists, who believe that the accumulation of money is a great evil and a burden on the soul and they therefore, regardless of personal hazard, see it as their unpleasant duty to acquire as much money as possible to reduce the risk to innocent people.[1]
[1] With apologies to Terry Pratchett
If OOXML finally dies, shall we give Microsoft a Darwin Award? Or perhaps a Richard Dawkins Award since it's a dying meme?
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!
I just got off the phone with Mr Bill. He said I am supposed to accept the award for Microsoft. The only problem is that I am busy on the night it would be awarded. I could make a teleconference appearance but sadly would need assistance in getting the money back to Microsoft. If it is wired to me, I couldn't get through customs and we all saw that movie with tom hanks who had to live in an airport.
If anyone with a valid checking account could help with this, I am willing to give them a small convenience fee of 10% plus any expenses. Please down load my personal instant messaging program and shoot me a message. If you have difficulty installing it, you can email me directly at 419 at nigeria.embasy Notice I used the "at" instead of the "@" sign in the email address to avoid spammers and scammers.
Thank you in advance to anyone able to help.
I don't think the ISO organization will allow M$ to damage their reputation that way. The OOXML vote is an international scandal and the people who count are not going to forget it. The whole business has already been damaging to ISO and they would do better to bury ooxml.
Just the same, I don't feel smug about how easily they damaged ISO. When I want to feel smug, I contemplate Vista's failure and what that means for the whole next generation of M$ crap and lock in.
Vista is one of the best things that ever happened to free software. It's later, more restrictive more expensive and less functional than anyone could possibly have imagined. There is zero enthusiasm for it and a plenty of rejection.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
History only partially backs you up on this one. Remember Microsoft's numerous attempts to define a networking standard so that they could crush the TCP/IP network protocol? NetBUI anyone?
But yes, it can be hard to overcome the market leader. But, then again, if Microsoft were really sure that they controlled the market, why go through the trouble of standardizing? Because large parts of the world were looking elsewhere, especially governments.
I'm imagining a hailstorm of flying chairs in an office somewhere.
Yay somebody finally found out where AC lives and is going to sort out the problem of trolls and frist posters once and for all!
I hate printers.
Is this the Japanese numbering of Final Fantasy II, or the USA releases?
actually, the abbreviation stands for the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, a not-for-profit organization that has campaigned (in Europe), among other things, against software patents, excessive "intellectual" "property" rights and for open standards.
Let's face it, folks. MS had the OS market in a stranglehold. They could've gotten away with pretty much anything. Bundling with hardware? No problem at all. Actually made the Average Joe user happy. Crappy bundled software like players and browsers? Zero problem either. Who doesn't know that there's better alternatives is happy with what he got. Mandatory registration? Already a bit of a nuisance to the average user (especially if he doesn't have internet access), but still bearable. Anyone will make a single phone call to use his computer.
But then they stepped across the line where the average user grins and bears it. After a major repair, another call. After a few more, the spanish inquisition starts. People start to get nervous. They didn't do anything wrong, yet they feel as suspects for copying software. Software they bought honestly. People also care whether they can do what they used to do. Now DRM is hanging over their heads, and they start looking at their friends who use Linux, who don't have to call, who don't have to register, who get tons of software for free and legally so, and with the various installers the distributions have, it's also only a mouseclick away.
People start to look around for alternatives. Being the moderator of a "non-geek tech board", I got a pretty good idea what bugs the "Average Joe" users and what direction they take. For about a year now, we have had a vastly increasing number in postings containing questions about Linux, which distribution to take, how to install it and how to get it going, quickly followed by quite happy notes how easy it was.
I've been trying to talk them into it for a few years now. Until recently the response was mostly "What for?". Now there's a reason. So if anyone helped Linux become more of a mainstream system, it's MS.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.