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The Inside Story on Norway's Yes to OOXML

Posted by timothy on from the distracted-by-short-skirt-during-brief-summer dept.

Steve Pepper writes "The former Chairman of the Norwegian ISO committee, who resigned two weeks ago in protest against his country's vote of Yes to OOXML, tells the inside story of how the decision was reached: how a single bureaucrat from Standards Norway sidelined the overwhelming majority of Norwegian technical experts and changed Norway's vote from No to Yes. The story is so surreal it's hard to believe." It's as depressing as it is brief.

3 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. ISO corruption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The whole OOXML vote debacle has really showcased corruption of the ISO. Those in the ISO who want to restore the integrity of their organization need to address the massive rule-breaking this vote and Microsoft's role in it present.

    Word of advice to ISO: head in the sand is not going to help!!

  2. Nothing needs to be done by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft have done it for us. The money they paid to push through their "standard" is wasted because the body the standardized it is no longer respected. Their purpose for seeking approval from a standards body has been defeated by the way in which they obtained it.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:Nothing needs to be done by RelaxedTension · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Anyone except open source programmers, since the license for ooxml is incompatible with the GPL. As well, the patent situation is another large roadblock for open source (not to mention anyone else). So really, not just anyone can use it.

      I'm still trying to decide if you're just a Microsoft fanboy, or an actual shill.