Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 3rd Feb 2007 16:40 UTC, submitted by jayson.knight
A Microsoft-sponsored open-source project is expected on Friday to release a translator that will convert file formats between Microsoft Office and rival standard OpenDocument, or ODF. Microsoft started the project at SourceForge last year, relying on three partners to develop the code that lets a user open and save word processor documents in two different formats.
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2005-11-11
//Additionally if you do not like the current state of the project, you can use its sources for another alternative (license is BSD after all) //
You can use it sources to try to make a better convertor which (after Office 2007 has already done a conversion (internal memory <-> OOXML) then attempts to do a conversion OOXML <-> ODF (which as you say is technically impossible).
However the sources are utterly useless if you are trying to write a save-as-ODF capability as the default file format. The CleverAge sources are utterly useless as (internal memory <-> ODF) which is what the daVinci plugin does.
//They did not build a file format plugin, but prepared a converter for technical and practical reasons. //
You mis-spelled "political".
The daVinci plugin demonstrates that a "file format plugin" is both technically and practically a 100% viable thing to do.
Any software architect worth his salt would have written an ODF capability without going via OOXML first. It is blatantly obvious you should do it direct to ODF, not via OOXML. The only reason why you would go via OOXML first is if you had a political agenda to make OOXML necessary ...
Edited 2007-02-04 12:48