Monthly Archives: March 2008
Groklaw: The France Shift From No to Abstain — HP helped Microsoft France do it
Here’s the scoop from Les Echos.fr on France’s sudden change from its No vote to Abstain. Microsoft France’s President Eric Boustouller sent AFNOR a letter [PDF] in French, of course. He tells a tale about OOXML and ODF progressing side by side and how if OOXML is approved, a group will be working hard to make the two more interoperable. Attached was a an HP statement of support for OOXML. HP sings the same song. And AFNOR?
“A la lumière des contributions et des commentaires, il nous est apparu qu’une “Désapprobation” n’était plus justifiée. Pour autant, il demeure encore des incertitudes sur les textes et les engagements, ce qui nous a conduit à nous prononcer par une “Abstention”", a expliqué dans un message électronique samedi Tony Hittema, directeur technique de l’Afnor.
That’s saying that in light of the new information, it seemed to them that disapprove was not justified. But neither was a Yes vote, because there remain issues with OOXML. So that’s why they did it. Continue reading
Navy to focus only on open systems
Federal Computer Week has a story covering the US Navy’s position on open source software and open standards. There are a few choice quotes from Vice Adm. Mark Edwards which show the navy understands benefit of unhindered access to information. … Continue reading
Lost in the OOXML Fog
There’s been a lot of reporting about the ISO fiasco with OOXML. You can read writeups from people much more tuned in to the process than me. You can start here, here and here (the last is a highly recommended … Continue reading
Groklaw: ISO Statement on the BRM: Public Stay Out – Updated
The ISO folk have put out a press release about how wonderful the BRM worked out and what happens next. However, it tells us little people to stay out. Here’s the operative language:
The BRM was not intended to be a public event but followed the orderly and inclusive process of ISO and IEC. With the BRM review completed, it is now up to national bodies to determine whether approval of ISO/IEC DIS 29500 is warranted.
So much for an open standard. I have a question for the ISO. Have all prior meetings been run like this? In the deepest shade you can find? You know they have not, and I know they have not.
So, how about letting us listen to audio of the meeting, so we can compare claims now coming from all sides? There are so many different accounts, and they don’t all sync up. Given that this format, if accepted, will impact us little people, not just a bunch of vendors, how about letting us in enough to make it at least possible to figure out who is telling the truth?
Hey, EU Commission. Did you know that there is reportedly audio made of the BRM meeting? Continue reading
Do Linux Users Care About Freedom?
Over at the TuxToday blog, there’s a post about Linux users not caring about freedom – because they’d rather just use Adobe’s Flash plugin in lieu of Free Software like Gnash. Or they think Richard Stallman and the FSF are … Continue reading
Even More Fun with dapper.net
One of the challenges with getting the Voter Info Project up and running is the fact that so much of the data was in raw HTML pages, with no data feeds that could easily be imported. Remember back in the … Continue reading
The Wonder of dapper.net
As we s-l-o-w-l-y get the voter information project up and off the ground, Ilan discovered dapper.net, and I have to admit to being wholly enthralled. Take any kind of web data – HTML, RSS, XML, etc. etc. – and do … Continue reading