5 ms·
Microsoft cries out to UK government against open source
- billyjobob 13y agoBut I thought Microsoft had 'changed'? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7281283 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7281283
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- tluyben2 13y agoThought of referring to that as well...
- RyanZAG 13y agoThe comments are pretty great, I think anybody likely to be hoodwinked by the article will at least have to rethink when they reach the comments. Goes to show how much more difficult it is to wallpaper over an issue on the web where open comments are allowed.
- MarcScott 13y agoAgreed. It's great to see so many comments calling out Microsoft and OOXML. This entire post has prompted me to sign up and add my comments supporting the current proposals. Way to shoot oneself in the foot.
- gtirloni 13y agoThere is not a single mention of open source. The situation is over the decision to choose ODF vs. OOXML. Both seem to have open specifications. ODF - https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=office https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=... OOXML - http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-376.htm http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecm...
- userbinator 13y agoWhat's wrong with HTML+CSS? To be honest I wouldn't choose anything XML based, but ODF looks like the lesser of two evils; the OOXML specification is just monsterous.
- eponeponepon 13y agoI'm not sure what reasons there could be to avoid "anything XML based" yet still favour HTML. Can you explain further, please?
- CodeWithCoffee 13y agoThese standards don't just cover 'word documents', they also cover other Office types for spreadsheets and presentations. HTML+CSS is a terrible idea for a spreadsheet standard.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- Argorak 13y agoMediocre page break support, just to start with. (there is some for print media in CSS, but nothing fancy)
- _random_ 13y agoXAML is much better then both.
- ZeroGravitas 13y agoThe actual recommendation is to use the web for communication, with PDF/A as a second choice for read-only printable docs and ODF is then suggested for editable documents.
- bad_user 13y agoThe OOXML specification is dirty, being plagued with compatibility issues with older MS Office versions and full of non-XML streams that are barely specified or things that rely on MS Office in order to be interpreted. As a result, no OOXML document can be opened in non-MS Office software and get the same result. In fact, Word/Excel documents created in the Windows version can barely be opened in MS Office for OS X, because the OS X version is always lagging behind, always lacking features, like macros. I routinely got and still getting Word/Excel documents that I can't view in MS Office on OS X or in LibreOffice in Linux, because users can't help themselves in using totally useless features and also can't be convinced to use more portable formats, because in their worldview, what could be more standard than MS Office? OOXML is Microsoft's response to ODF - they released it because governments started worrying about keeping their data in binary formats. But make no mistake, OOXML is just a farce, meant to sidetrack a real standard from happening.
- danmaz74 13y agoHow is Google office not supporting ODF?
- nunodonato 13y agothey do, you can export and import. at least from odt, last time I checked
- danmaz74 13y agoThat's what I think too. So is that just FUD?
- jasonlotito 13y agohttps://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/docs/S6IkdnuH91E https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/docs/S6IkdnuH... Judging by that thread, no.
- typj 13y agoMore from Simon Phipps: http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2014/02/open-standards-still-need-your-vote/index.htm http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/simon-says/2014/02/open-sta... Between messing with open standards and their many shill/PR/lobbying outfits, Microsoft hatred is hardly irrational, despite what their employees would like you to believe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7281283 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7281283
- reinhardt1053 13y agoTotally misleading title, there is nothing against open source in the post.
- _random_ 13y agoI think that they should choose the most widely used document format. If that's MS Office one then so be it.