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French Government IT Directorate Supports ODF, Rejects OOXML

Posted by timothy on from the but-open-office-xml-sounds-so-nice dept.

jrepin writes: The final draft version of the RGI (general interoperability framework), still awaiting final validation, maintains ODF as the recommended format for office documents within French administrations. This new version of the RGI provides substantiated criticism of the OOXML Microsoft format. April thanks the DISIC (French Inter-ministerial IT directorate) for not giving in to pressure and acting in the long-term interest of all French citizens and their administrations. As Wikpedia notes, OOXML (Office Open XML) is not to be confused with OpenOffice.org XML. (Also on the open-source office-document format front, OpenSource.com has taken a look at five open alternatives to Google Docs.)

4 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. OOXML is a joke ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Calling OOXML a "standard" was always a bad joke.

    Way too much crap of "must work like this proprietary project", and too many uses of other proprietary things.

    How the hell ISO allowed it to ever be identified as a standard still perplexes me.

    Which means it's good when people see OOXML for what it is -- a proprietary format, which is inadequately documented, and has things which limit other people from using it.

    Even Microsoft doesn't adhere to any standard interpretation of OOXML, because there isn't one.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:OOXML is a joke ... by denis-The-menace · · Score: 5, Informative

      How did it "become" an ISO standard?

      **History lesson: How MS got Office Open XML approved**
      MS paid the ISO membership fees for a bunch of new ISO members for that one critical ISO vote.
      The new members were so happy, they voted to approve Open XML.

      This way, the secretive and patent laden file format could be used in government bids where ISO file formats where required.

      Soon after this outrageous manoeuvre,
      ISO lost it's reputation and became known as I Sold Out.

      --
      Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
  2. Re:Confusion by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is why I refer to it as MOO-XML, keeps it in mind that it belongs to Microsoft.

  3. Nice to know by bluesmartini · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm working in a public research institute in France, and all ODF files that are mailed are blocked. Our mail provider is microsoft 365. The ports are blocked in order to force OWA protocols. A real nightmare for Linux users :-/