[A2k] ODF Alliance Newsletter - April 2008

Tue Apr 8 08:42:01 2008

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: ODF Alliance Newsletter - April 2008
Date: Mon,  7 Apr 2008 12:11:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: Marino Marcich <mmarcich@odfalliance.org>
Reply-To: mmarcich@odfalliance.org

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http://www.odfalliance.org/mail_list.php.

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MICROSOFT'S OOXML: ANALYSIS OF THE ISO VOTE

Despite serious technical and legal concerns with Microsoft's Office
Open XML, enough countries' votes were changed in the second round of
ISO balloting to allow OOXML to proceed the publication phase, subject
to there being no formal appeals in the next 60 days.

ODF Alliance Statement --
http://www.odfalliance.org/blog/index.php/site/odf_alliance_statement_on_th=
e_iso_vote_on_ooxml/

ConsortiumInfo.org --
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=3D20080405104=
109438

Open Forum Europe --
http://www.openforumeurope.org/library/comments/ofe-statement-on-the-dis295=
00-iso-vote

Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure --
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-50857/press-release:iso-captured-by-vendor-m=
icrosoft

Free Software Foundation Europe --
http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q2/000206.html

ISO Release --
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=3DRef1123

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UK EDUCATIONAL ADVISORY BODY RECOMMENDS ODF; REITERATES RECOMMENDATION
AGAINST SAVING IN OOXML

Becta, the UK government's lead agency for Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) in education, wrote to the British
Standards committee responsible for co-ordinating the UK=92s response to
the proposed Office Open XML (OOXML)standard asking that it consider
carefully whether two different ISO standards was the best outcome that
could be achieved. The letter noted that "the interests of non technical
users (including most teachers and parents) would be best served by a
single standard which accommodated the existing Open Document Format
(ODF) specification, and any extensions necessary to provide the
required compatibility with various legacy Microsoft formats." Users of
Office 2007 are advised against saving in OOXML. Due to limitations in
Microsoft's implementation of ODF, users are advised in the short term
to continue to save files in .doc, .xls and .ppt formats.

http://news.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=3D35948&page=3D1657&catID=3D1632

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MALAYSIA TAKES ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS ODF

The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit
(MAMPU), a key driver in Malaysia's IT policy, announced that it will
migrate to the OpenOffice.org open source productivity suite and,
beginning on April 1st, will use ODF for all new documents created. The
announcement is in line with the Malaysian Public Sector Open Source
Master Plan, which calls for government agencies to reduce costs,
increase freedom of choice and interoperability. The agency will also
uninstall all copies of Microsoft Office by the end of 2008.

http://www.oscc.org.my/index.php?option=3Dcom_content&task=3Dview&id=3D189&=
Itemid=3D128

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ODF GETS AN UPGRADE IN GERMANY

ODF is now recommended for editable text documents under Germany's
Standards and Architectures for eGovernment Applications 4.0 (SAGA 4.0),
a multi-stakeholder initiative that recommends and mandates standards to
be used by the German federal government. This represents an upgrade for
ODF, which was "under observation" in SAGA 3.0 (released in October
2006). There are three categories of standards under SAGA: "obligatory";
"recommended"; and "under observation". OOXML is listed as "under
observation" for all three file types (text, spreadsheets,
presentations). The aim of SAGA is ensure the smooth flow of data in the
German government.

http://www.kbst.bund.de/cln_028/nn_836956/SharedDocs/Meldungen/2008/SAGA/sa=
ga__4__0.html

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NETHERLANDS HOLDS NATIONAL ODF WORKSHOP

On February 28th, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs organized a
national ODF workshop where government organizations discussed ODF best
practices, using case studies that have been developed nationally and
internationally. The workshop was organized in conjunction with the
Dutch government's action plan under which Central Government services
will support ODF beginning in April 2008, along with the current file
formats, for reading, writing, and exchange of documents. Subsidiary
government bodies will follow as soon as possible, at the latest by
December 2008. The ODF policy was explained to participants by the NOiV
(Netherlands in Open Connection) program (http://www.ososs.nl/noiv/en),
which informs and advises the Dutch public sector about the
possibilities of open source software. More information about ODF in the
Netherlands can be obtained through the NOiV office: +31 70 888 7717.

http://www.odfworkshop.nl/programma

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FIRST DOCUMENT FREEDOM DAY CELEBRATED WITH EVENTS IN 60 COUNTRIES

200 teams from more than 60 countries organized local activities
celebrating and championing the cause of freedom for our data.
Preserving access to information and records without regard to the
software that created them has never been more important, and is now the
subject of debate at the highest levels of government. As other DFD
supporters have noted, true freedom also means "freedom to leave",
referring to the liberty to take your data and go elsewhere uninhibited
by file formats that require a particular program for faithful
reproduction and use.

http://www.documentfreedom.org/

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NEW OR IMPROVED ODF APPLICATIONS SUPPORT

The Alliance is happy to highlight new or improved applications support
for ODF, so please keep us informed of any product announcements.

Docudesk's deskUNPDF converts PDF documents to multiple output formats
for editing, including .odt.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/New-PDF-Converter-Has-Office-Caliber-Mus=
cle-62099.html?welcome=3D1205460777

SQL Manager 2008 now provides ODF import/export capability.
http://www.sqlmanager.net/en/products/mssql/manager/news/1294

OpenOffice 2.4 includes improved support for ODF, among other
significant enhancements.
http://development.openoffice.org/releases/2.4.0.html

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NEW ALLIANCE MEMBERS

Please welcome the following new members: Webdesign Hamburg (Germany);
PSNUG (USA); Conecsan Consultoria e Treinamento (Brazil); Webcreator
(Slovakia);  Ergoline ergonomie (Belgium); MyConsulting Pty Ltd
(Australia); DesignBits Webdesign (Germany); Burodiscount (Belgium);
Resultatmedia (Sweden); Associa=E7=E3o Ensino Livre (Portugal); Grupo Ubunt=
u
Nicaragua; Xandros Corp (USA); Liber4e Consulting (Portugal); Gleducar
(Argentina); CGPI (Argentina); Sincerity Weddings LLC (USA); Baldwin
Linguas (USA); and Community for Open Source Promotion (Pakistan).

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ODF IN THE NEWS

The failure of the ISO: OOXML battles will continue elsewhere [Aaron
Shaw's weblog]
http://fringethoughts.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/the-failure-of-the-iso-ooxml=
-battles-will-continue-elsewhere/

Ubuntu=92s Shuttleworth blames ISO for OOXML=92s win [Paula Rooney, ZDnet]
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3D2222

Countries protest OOXML result [Karen Dearne, AustralianIT]
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23473550-15321,00.html

After OOXML, XPS [Mind Booster Noori]
http://mindboosternoori.blogspot.com/2008/04/after-ooxml-xps.html

OOXML, Microsoft Reportedly Rolls the ISO on a Standard for Data Formats
[James Love, The Huffington Post]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-love/ooxml-microsoft-reported_b_94238.h=
tml

So where are all the OOXML documents [Pascaletmokatherine's weblog]
http://pascaletmokatherine.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/so-where-are-all-the-oo=
xml-documents/

Complaint Lodged Over EU Parliament=92s Exclusive Use Of Microsoft Systems
[William New, Intellectual Property Watch]
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D948

A =93Word=94 on Document Interoperability [Jon Reagan's blog]
http://jonreagan.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/a-word-on-document-interoperabili=
ty/

EU to consider buying open-source software [Bloomberg News]
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/05/business/open.php

A layman's thoughts on open document formats, free software, freedom of
choice, freedom of information, liberties in general [tonytraductor]
http://tonytraductor.livejournal.com/5354.html

Free-software lawyers: Don't trust Microsoft's Open XML patent pledge
[Martin LaMonica, CNet]
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9892585-7.html?tag=3Dnefd.top

Bristol City Council Saves with ODF [Glyn Moody, ComputerWorld UK]
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=
=3D592&blogid=3D14

When standards ain't standards [Graeme Philipson, Sydney Morning Herald]
http://www.smh.com.au/news/perspectives/when-standards-aint-standards/2008/=
03/11/1205125864040.html?page=3D2

ODF vs MSXML adoption [Limulus]
http://limulus.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/odf-vs-msxml-adoption/

Free Market vs OOXML [Danijel Orsolic]
http://www.memeverse.com/2008/03/30/free-market-vs-the-ooxml/

Marino Marcich
Managing Director
ODF Alliance
1090 Vermont Avenue, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Direct Line: 202-789-4450
Fax: 202-289-7097
Email: mmarcich@odfalliance.org

www.odfalliance.org