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ODF 1.2 Is Approved
An anonymous reader writes with news that the Open Document Format 1.2 specification has finally been approved.
"The most important improvement to ODF 1.2 is the newly built spreadsheet support. The old format was buggy and had a lot of legacy problems. Therefore the new spreadsheet module was written from scratch. 'A complete clean room implementation of the spreadsheet formula was built,' said [Michiel Leenaars, director of the Internet Society Netherlands]. ... Another important improvement in ODF 1.2 is the support for Resource Description Framework (RDF) metadata, a W3C standard model for data interchange on the Web. ... Instead of only being able to link to a URL, RDF allows users to link text in documents to other things like a V-Card or a calendar item. Companies can use this technology to structure their workflow."
There are many people around here who still think that openoffice is a java-dependent product of Sun Microsystems that is determined to takeover your entire desktop and consume absurd amounts of resources in order to do the simplest of imaginable tasks.
That's because they are right. Well, it's Oracle now, but still:
# yum install openoffice.org-calc
[...]
Resolving Dependencies
[...]
Installing:
[...]
java-1.6.0-openjdk x86_64 1:1.6.0.0-54.1.9.9.fc14 updates 26 M
[...]
Installed size: 418 M
Is this ok [y/N]: N
418 MB just for the calc? Seems bloated to me. And seems like it requires java too.
My main question here would be why the hell are you still using OpenOffice.org anyway? I've been on LibreOffice for ages now, and (in Debian at least, as far as I can tell) LibreOffice Calc does not require any sort of Java runtime.
This would make sense given that one of the aims of LibreOffice is to "reduce Java dependency".
Anybody that cares about the documents functioning properly in the future or when exchanged with random other people doesn't use the MS Office formats. MS does go to lengths to maintain backwards compatibility, but ultimately it's still risky to use different versions to work on a file.
So both formats have flaws, but there are some key differences...
The guys behind ODF are actively trying to fix their flaws (hence this story)
The guys behind OpenOffice aim for compatibility instead of blindly implementing a spec that is flawed and noone else follows
MS could easily have implemented the same extensions to ODF, and they had already done so in the earlier ODF plugin they sponsored, which was BSD licensed so they could have simply reused the code. Instead, they chose to go out of their way to write a new implementation which they knew would be incompatible with everyone else.
They only implemented ODF at all to try and pull the wool over people's eyes, it was the bare minimum to try and fool those who were demanding open standards, while still trying to maintain their lock-in.
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The "If it's not done the "True Microsoft way", I'm going to infect your computer with malware" attitude that keeps Microsoft office software in its own little ghetto.
Resorting to vandalism doesn't get anyone to adopt the software. Writing excellent software gets people using software.
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
I have two wishes.
Polynomial regression on ods
Write code to convert mathematical formulas from word to odt and back again.
When these two wishes have been fulfilled. Libreoffice will be ready for use in high schools.