Format Standards Committee "Grinds To a Halt"

Andy Updegrove writes "Microsoft's OOXML did not get enough votes to be approved the first time around in ISO/IEC — notwithstanding the fact that many countries joined the Document Format and Languages committee in the months before voting closed, almost all of them voting to approve OOXML. Unfortunately, many of these countries also traded up to 'P' level membership at the last minute to gain more influence. Now the collateral damage is setting in. At least 50% of P members must vote (up, down, or abstain) on every standard at each ballot — and none of the new members are bothering to vote, despite repeated pleas from the committee chair. Not a single ballot has passed since the OOXML vote closed. In the chairman's words, the committee has 'ground to a halt.' Sad to say, there's no end in sight for this (formerly) very busy and influential standards committee."

Comments

Re:Hamstrung

[Zeinfeld]

Before any vote, all members must stand and re-affirm their (legally binding) pledge to destroy Microsoft, Windows, and all that is associated with them

Well what do you expect if this is your attitude?

Both the document formats on offer are thin XML veneers on an existing code base. The only difference is that one code base is open source and the other is the market leader with 90% plus market share.

Word is a standard the way that FAT is a standard. Recognize it as such, embrace and extend. Everyone who wants to sell a word processor has to support Word document formats anyway so why be so snotty about it all?

If people turn the standards process into a pissing contest they end up hurting everyone. Microsoft made a perfectly reasonable request. They did not ask for exclusivity, they made the IPR openly available.

We had the same thing happen with SPF and SenderID, sticking their thumb in Microsoft's eye was much more important to some people than stopping the spammers.

The standards process is about recognition, not choice. Almost no standards bodies have the power to make a standard by declaration alone. Most ISO standards are (justly) ignored. Virtually no restaurant in the entire US provides ISO 3103 compliant tea (although they no longer make it with salt water).

A standards process must either recognize an existing de facto standard or establish a widespread consensus amongst the participants to succeed.

It is often more important to recognize a de facto standard than propose improvements. For example, in the US almost all lightbulbs use the flawed Edison Screw mount. From a technical point of view it is inferior to the European Swan Bayonet fixture in almost every way. The Edison screw was chosen as the standard in the Us because it was widely supported and the patents had expired.