IBM is adopting OpenDocument Format for the first generally available release of its network-based collaboration and office productivity suite. IBM said Sunday its Workplace Managed Client 2.6, due in early 2006, would adopt ODF so users could easily share files and information. The Workplace Managed Client is currently available on a limited capacity, with more than one million deployed seats.
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Member since:"IBM will not go to the effort of stripping out the proprietary stuff in OS/2 to open source it. Why because it is promoting Linux as the one operating system that runs on all IBM hardware."
Personally, I think the best thing IBM could do with OS/2 is strip out the proprietary stuff and open source it. Why? Because lots of people still run it--especially banks and other financial institutions. OS/2 is like a parasitic worm at IBM. Something that gives them no benefit anymore, but which they can't simply stop supporting because they have too many customers that still use it. So basically, IBM is stuck paying programmers to maintain it, release fixpacks and patches for it, etc., And it's got to be costing them money to maintain it since they get virtually no revenue from OS/2 anymore.
The best thing IBM could do would be to turn OS/2 over to the open source community so that they wouldn't have to spend money maintaining it anymore. Open source programmers would do that for free.
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Who controls the ODF spec? If I create a new word processor app tomorrow that used ODF, could I add more capabilities without being lambasted by people for trying to "hijack" their precious document format?