Yes - the rulings made by the court do stand as precedents, notwithstanding the fact that the case settled. What the settlement means is that those rulings can no longer be appealed. If it had settled before going to court, then the settlement would have been irrelevant, but that's not the case here.
- Andy
Kevin J. O'Brien, reporting in the International Herald Tribune, reports that the ODF update will in fact permit users to "adjust Office 2007 settings to automatically save documents in the rival format." A knowledgeable source tells me that this report is likely to be accurate.
The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that EU regulators have announced a third investigation into Microsoft's conduct on the desktop. This latest action demonstrates that while the EU has settled the case against Microsoft that ran for almost a decade, it remains as suspicious as ever regarding the software vendor's conduct, notwithstanding Microsoft's less combative stance in recent years. The news can be found in a story reported by Charles Forelle bylined in Brussells this morning.
According to the Journal, the investigation will focus on whether Microsoft "violated antitrust laws during a struggle last year to ratify its Office software file format as an international standard." The article also says that the regulators are "stepping up scrutiny of the issue."
The big difference is the sweat shop copy of MS was undoubtedly pirated. Now that China is cracking down, nobody wants to pay Microsoft prices. Instead, they'd like to use a cheap, homegrown product - built on UOF (or, if it goes that way, UOF/ODF).
- Andy
Not to belabor the point, but you happen to be wrong, as any archaeologist will tell you. There are many, many, many archaeological digs going on of sites dating from the late 1800s.
Now how would you explain that?
Andy
Its not really that surprising, because almost all Web Services standards were proposed by strange-bedfellows Microsoft, IBM and BEA, so Microsoft wants these standards to be broadly adopted. That said, it's still good news that they're making them easier to implement if you think that Web Services are a good thing. It also helps promote the non-assertion concept, and encourages others to use the same device. Net net, good news, IMHO.
- Andy
Actually, yes. Unlike almost anyone else on line, I use my own name, so that people can tell when I (unlike, I'm sure, many others) offer their own writing. I've had c. 25 of my pieces taken by Slashdot, some submitted by me and some by others, presumably because the editors think I have something to say that other's would like to read - not just the news, but perspective on that news. Also, I have personally broken many of the most important stories in the ODF saga, such as Peter Quinn's resignation, the approval by ISO/IEC, and now the shifting of the public amendment to a budget bill, out of sight.
- Andy (not "anonymous coward", not a pseudonym, and not with the "post anonymously block" checked)
Slashdot Mirror
Yes - the rulings made by the court do stand as precedents, notwithstanding the fact that the case settled. What the settlement means is that those rulings can no longer be appealed. If it had settled before going to court, then the settlement would have been irrelevant, but that's not the case here. - Andy
Andy
My blog entry begins:
Sound familiar?- Andy
The big difference is the sweat shop copy of MS was undoubtedly pirated. Now that China is cracking down, nobody wants to pay Microsoft prices. Instead, they'd like to use a cheap, homegrown product - built on UOF (or, if it goes that way, UOF/ODF). - Andy
Not to belabor the point, but you happen to be wrong, as any archaeologist will tell you. There are many, many, many archaeological digs going on of sites dating from the late 1800s. Now how would you explain that? Andy
Its not really that surprising, because almost all Web Services standards were proposed by strange-bedfellows Microsoft, IBM and BEA, so Microsoft wants these standards to be broadly adopted. That said, it's still good news that they're making them easier to implement if you think that Web Services are a good thing. It also helps promote the non-assertion concept, and encourages others to use the same device. Net net, good news, IMHO. - Andy
Actually, yes. Unlike almost anyone else on line, I use my own name, so that people can tell when I (unlike, I'm sure, many others) offer their own writing. I've had c. 25 of my pieces taken by Slashdot, some submitted by me and some by others, presumably because the editors think I have something to say that other's would like to read - not just the news, but perspective on that news. Also, I have personally broken many of the most important stories in the ODF saga, such as Peter Quinn's resignation, the approval by ISO/IEC, and now the shifting of the public amendment to a budget bill, out of sight. - Andy (not "anonymous coward", not a pseudonym, and not with the "post anonymously block" checked)