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> The resulting JSON file [...] can then be [... blah blah blah...] or reviewed in Microsoft Excel (use a JSON-to-CSV converter for compatibility with Google Sh
by cxr 4y ago
> The resulting JSON file [...] can then be [... blah blah blah...] or reviewed in Microsoft Excel (use a JSON-to-CSV converter for compatibility with Google Sheets)
GitHub's status as a Microsoft-owned subsidiary is showing. What a dig to manage to slip in—that one of your competitors, ostensibly a vanguard for openness and interoperability (and known esp. for favoring tech solutions that have a Web-y flavor in particular), hasn't taught its competing product to interoperate with JSON.
- mousetree 4y agoI actually found that callout quite useful. I've often had to send SBOMs to lawyers, auditors etc. and typically in Excel.
- pxc 4y agoAren't these things basically incompatible formats, since JSON can be arbitrarily nested and spreadsheets have no depth?
- emmelaich 4y agoThere is a JSON 'schema' that is popular that makes it more compatible. Sorry, forgotten the name. And I'm not sure if this adhere's to it.
- pxc 4y agoKinda sounds to me like the format should just be CSV in the first place, then. If anyone has reasons why they prefer constrained JSON, I'd like to hear it, though. :)
- zvr 4y agoNo, the format is SPDX which can be serialized in JSON or in a spreadsheet (as well as RDF, XML, YAML, tag-value text, etc.)
- cxr 4y agoAlthough you can't reliably handle arbitrary JSON, they're not ipso facto incompatible formats; the fact that you can run a CSV-to-JSON is proof. (If you have a tool that operates on the kind of data that CSV is used for, then you can, of course, implement JSON support in the same tool at least to the extent that it is able to handle any JSON of the form that a CSV-to-JSON converter would produce...)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- acdha 4y agoIsn’t that saying the opposite of what you’re concerned about? It sounds like Microsoft has added support to Excel for the industry-standard format SPDX files which many tools, including GitHub, generate but is acknowledging that Google has not yet done so. Since both tools are proprietary I’d much prefer that they use standard formats like SPDX. SBOMs are the kind of thing large organizations ask for - note the U.S. executive order linked – and that means lots of non-technical people are going to be exposed to them.
- cxr 4y ago> Isn’t that saying the opposite of what you’re concerned about? What do you think I'm concerned about? Also: no.