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The Anti-ODF Whisper Campaign

Posted by Soulskill on from the are-you-saying-odf-won't-make-my-docs-smell-bad dept.

eldavojohn writes "Groklaw is examining the possibility of an anti-ODF whisper campaign and the effects it has had on the ODF and OOXML Wikipedia articles. In the ODF article, Alex Brown bends the truth to make it seem like no one is supporting ODF, and that it is a flawed and incomplete standard. From the conclusion, 'So what is one to do? You obviously can't trust Wikipedia whatsoever in this area. This is unfortunate, since I am a big fan of Wikipedia. But since the day when Microsoft decided they needed to pay people to "improve" the ODF and OOXML articles, they have been a cesspool of FUD, spin and outright lies, seemingly manufactured for Microsoft's re-use in their whisper campaign. My advice would be to seek out official information on the standards, from the relevant organizations, like OASIS, the chairs of the relevant committees, etc. Ask the questions in public places and seek a public response. That is the ultimate weakness of FUD and lies. They cannot stand the light of public exposure. Sunlight is the best antiseptic.'"

8 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. Let's start with the truth by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Informative

    It might be useful to acknowledge what software DOES actually support ODF--including pretty much all of the more popular office and word processing suites [from Wikipedia]:

    • Adobe Buzzword
    • AbiWord (Users of Windows installations must first download and install Import/Export Plugins)
    • Google Docs
    • IBM Lotus Symphony
    • KOffice
    • Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007 (with plugin)
    • Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
    • NeoOffice
    • OpenOffice
    • Sun Microsystems StarOffice
    • SoftMaker Office
    • Corel WordPerfect Office X4
    • Zoho Office Suite
    • TextEdit (for the Mac)

    That doesn't sound like "no one" to me.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Let's start with the truth by Fred_A · · Score: 5, Funny

      On the other hand, there also is lots of support for MOO XML :
      - Microsoft
      - cows

      And there are *lots* of cows.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    2. Re:Let's start with the truth by Insanity+Defense · · Score: 5, Interesting

      On the other hand, there also is lots of support for MOO XML : - Microsoft

      Unfortunately this gives the impression that Microsoft supports Office Open XML but they don't. They plan to on the next version of MS-Office. They do support DOCX which is an ancestor of OOXML but they don't support OOXML itself. Neither does anyone else.

    3. Re:Let's start with the truth by Insanity+Defense · · Score: 5, Informative

      I thought it best that I provide evidence:

      http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/165077/microsoftled_forum_yields_tools_for_ooxml_interoperability.html

      An update this year adds support for ECMA-376, an earlier version of OOXML standard, to Office 2007, but Microsoft won't support the ISO29500 specification until it releases its forthcoming Office 2010 technology. Office 2007 is the software that set off the controversy over document formats when Microsoft developed OOXML as its own XML-based file format for the suite.

    4. Re:Let's start with the truth by Magic5Ball · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why is it remarkable to you that a list of criticisms about the objective technical merits of a proposed standard does not include items about the political actions of parties to the standardization process?

      Did ReiserFS gain or lose functionality for the sole reason that the author committed a crime? Did any of Alan Turing's theories gain or lose logical validity due to his sexual orientation becoming revealed? Did the arguments of the civil rights movement become wrong when they engaged in some quid pro quo actions to gain exposure?

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
  2. Re:Is ODF cross-application compatible? by hedwards · · Score: 5, Informative

    I wouldn't use MS' ODF, last time I wanted to export ODF from MS Office, I used the plug in provided by Sun microsystems. I haven't used it lately, but it's up to version 3.1. Last version I used was 1.1.

    Sun ODF Plugin

  3. Re:How do you define a 'whisper campaign'? by Palestrina · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A whisper campaign is when you tell outright lies in private that you would never dare to say in public, because they are so outrageously false that you would be immediately challenged on it. Saying that Microsoft products are buggy, etc., is not a whisper campaign, because we can and do say this publicly without fear of contradiction.

  4. Re:But ODF is a flawed and incomplete standard. by Todd+Knarr · · Score: 5, Informative

    Which conveniently omits that ODF was submitted under PAS - the process for reviewing and approving something that's already a standard and is already in use. ODF officially started the standardization process in OASIS in December of 2002, starting from the StarOffice format.

    As for OASIS's track record, I refer you to http://www.oasis-open.org/specs/ that lists the standards they've originated. These include DocBook and a large number of SOAP-related standards. That's hardly "no track record at all". And their heavy concentration in XML-based standards makes them a good place for another XML-based standard.