Slashdot Mirror
OOXML Vote Tracker and Calculation Guide
Andy Updegrove writes "The vote on Microsoft's OOXML closes today. The final result will not be announced (or leak) before sometime early next week. Meanwhile the votes of individual countries continue to come in, currently with more reported switching in favor of OOXML than against it. For the benefit of those who want to keep track of how the vote is tending until it's official, I'm posting the running tally of which votes have switched, what the net change has been, now many votes have come to light, and how many remain to be announced. It's likely that it will not be possible to know the final result until all votes are in, due to the complex double test for approval, and the complication that the final number of abstentions — and whether they move from 'yes' or 'no' votes — can decrease the total number of votes that need to switch to 'yes' in order for OOXML to be approved. For that reason, I also include the algorithm for arriving at a final result."
Yeah, bribes and kickbacks. Plus, Microsoft has instructed their people on how to stack and rig committees and bribe "experts":
You and other fools act like ISO can be easily manipulated by any one company or country. Do you even have a freaking clue about ISO? Most people that get on these bandwagons accusing people of manipulating the ISO processes have no idea how old ISO is, what it does, how it works, in fact most people think ISO is a freaking acronym, and that is when I go, ok, and walk away. (hint: look up isos)
As for political 'expertise' in bribes, MS is at the bottom of the list, and wasn't even a player in lobbyist actions until after the WP/Novell politically motivated crap.
(Novell and WP had no legitimate claim, other than their companies were in Utah, and they fucked over their users and then instead of trying to compete, used political pressures. Yes I know a bit about it, I was there, I saw the memos of MS trying to get WP to make a Windows 3.1 version, and even offering them free help and development to port WP to a Windows version, and WP's response to MS to go pound sand thinking their 5.x version would continue to rule the world.)
When it comes to political influence, MS was one of the LAST old school major Technology companies to even have any D.C. lobbyists.
It wasn't until after Orin Hatch and the WP/Novell crap that Microsoft used lobbyists to fight back, and they themselves were shocked they had to use lobbyists to counter false political movements against their company.(Google this if you need proof)
If Microsoft wasn't so naive about lobbying, there would have never been any monopoly case against them, just like Apple keeps their lock in policies held in good regard in Washington, even with as much market saturation as the iPod has, being equal to MS's OS saturation of the time, and yet far more abusive.
However, you act like MS are the 'experts' at this, even though Apple, Sun, & IBM had Washington D.C. based lobbyists years before Microsoft. (This is how Apple worked with the education policies, POSIX became a US Govt requirement, etc.)
Also when it comes to manipulation, we have more OSS lobbists messing in the affairs of politics in Washington and Brussels than any closed source corporation. Open uh? Only as open as what the movers and shakers of OSS think is open, and of course benefits their pet projects.
And the whole freaking EU case, was sold to them based on 'potential monopoly' of Microsoft and Microsoft being a USA company rather than anything they did. Anti-US corporate sentiment, plus, OSS self indulgent nuts = EU ruling. (This is where I note I have spent a lot of time in Brussels and have several personal friends that work at the EU.)
I am so sick of the BullShit religion of the anti-MS mentality it makes me freaking sick. Everyone forms a premise THEN works hard to justify it. OOXML is a very good example of this. 1) We hate MS, so it is bad. 2) Now we have to figure out how we can pick it apart to prove to others it is bad, based on #1. 3) Sell it as bad based on idiotic and mind numbing ideals to reinforce #1.
Want to be Open Source and think 'more open'?; then stop buying into your own belief system that circumvents your ability to make 'open' decisions.
FOSS has become the Atheists of the world, making a religion out of not being a religion. Everyone supporting FOSS needs to admit that we can't know for sure and open our freaking minds, even if we come to the same conclusion in the end.
If not, we are following a path that is based upon a belief system instead of facts. Open thinking and open software should not ever be a belief system, which directly contrasts with open thinking.