Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Mon 21st Nov 2005 23:51 UTC
Features, Office Microsoft intends to submit file formats for its new Office 12 applications to the European standards body ECMA International. The company hopes this will allay concern about its level of control over document formats. Update by AS: For the curious, here's a sample Office 12 file and a sample XPS file. (Note: Right click > Save As..., we're not configured to serve these files just yet.)
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RE[2]: We'll see..
by dylansmrjones on Tue 22nd Nov 2005 01:26 UTC in reply to "RE: We'll see.."
dylansmrjones
Member since:
2005-10-02

Reading isn't enough ;)

Besides that, the licensing issues are very problematic, at least in USA.

To me this is nothing but a PR-stunt.

Main critisisms of Microsoft is: Closed formats, or only open under closed licenses. You cannot legally create a GPL'ed reader for MS Office XML files. At least not in USA.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 2

RE[3]: We'll see..
by Marcellus on Tue 22nd Nov 2005 05:19 in reply to "RE[2]: We'll see.."
Marcellus Member since:
2005-08-26

You may not be able to legally make a GPL'd reader in the US, but you are free to make a BSD licensed one.

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RE[4]: We'll see..
by dylansmrjones on Tue 22nd Nov 2005 15:30 in reply to "RE[3]: We'll see.."
dylansmrjones Member since:
2005-10-02

If you can't handle freely implement a standard in any kind of software, whether proprietary or not, then it's not open.

It's only open if it's open for everyone.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 1