Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

Summary:

Users should react loudly to the latest attempt of Microsoft to sabotage ODF and fragment the corpus of ODF files

Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

Luc Bollen 08 May 2009 15:39

By releasing MS Office SP2 with a formula syntax incompatible with most of the applications supporting ODF, Microsoft tries to sabotage ODF and fragment the corpus of ODF files.

The supporters of ODF should react to this. I therefore propose the following actions:

- Ask the ODF Alliance to publish a press release recommending not using the "Save as ODF" facility included MS Office SP2, due to the bad quality of the produced ODF files.

The ODF Alliance issued a press release on 28-Apr-09 saying:

The ODF Alliance today welcomed the release of Microsoft’s Service Pack 2 for Office 2007, a software update that provides long-awaited support for the OpenDocument Format (ODF), while cautioning governments to evaluate the new software to ensure sufficient interoperability with other ODF-supporting applications.
[…]
"Microsoft has dragged its feet for over three years now. The key test will be whether Microsoft’s support for ODF plays well with other ODF-supporting software,” continued Marcich. “Governments will want to further evaluate the support for ODF provided by Microsoft and whether it sufficiently meets their needs for greater openness and interoperability.”

The initial tests made by Rob Weir shows the very bad interoperability delivered, and I think that a warning to the users is deserved.

- Start a petition asking Microsoft to make MS Office SP2 unavailable until the design flaws in the product have been corrected.

We must make it clear to Microsoft that their attitude is not acceptable, and force them to behave in a better way.

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

Luc Bollen 08 May 2009 15:59

As this ODF issue is no directly related to OOXML, this site is maybe not the best one for hosting the proposed petition. What about creating a www.no-office-sp2.org site, or something similar ?

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

podmokle 08 May 2009 16:51

Of course you can do that but the question is if that is really worth it.

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

Luc Bollen 08 May 2009 20:52

Is it really worth it ? I'm sure it is definitely worth to react and let our voice heard: Microsoft is busy Embracing and Extending ODF, with the hope to Extinguish it, in the most cynical and hypocritical way. We cannot let it happen.

This being said, I don't know if a petition is the most efficient way to reach the goal. This is just a proposal, and better ideas are welcome. But I think we cannot simply wait and see.

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

podmokle 09 May 2009 00:46

Why not? I cannot see that this strategy can work. The approach reveals a weakness. "Embracing and Extending ODF, with the hope to Extinguish it", not even you believe that it would work.

The best thing to do is to move on and ensure broad public adoption of ODF and open standards.

If there is a deliberate attempt to obstruct competition we will sooner or later see the competition authorities march in. There is no need to be reactive. Pressure can be easily mounted with small and smart investments.

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

Luc Bollen 09 May 2009 18:20

"I cannot see that this strategy can work" This strategy will indeed not succeed to kill ODF, but it can slow down ODF adoption. If the corpus of ODF documents is contaminated with badly interoperable one, some people will likely reject ODF because they will think that the format is not reliable. So I think it is useful to eradicate as soon as possible the cause for contamination. See the reaction against the Mexican flu: of course the flu will not destroy the human kind, but still it is useful to avoid contamination so as to limit the damages. And several authorities even took radical measures to stop contamination as soon as possible.

"If there is a deliberate attempt to obstruct competition we will sooner or later see the competition authorities march in." Indeed. Note that I would rather have written "As there is a deliberate attempt…". But my concern is that this could take some time to happen. There is therefore a case for mounting the pressure without waiting. This being said, I agree that most of the effort must remain focused on broadening the adoption of ODF, and only smart investments should be directed towards Microsoft tricks against interoperability.

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

arebenti 12 May 2009 12:16

Why don't you compile the facts about the anti-competitive behaviour in this case and submit it to the relevant watchdog?

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/forms/consumer_form_en.html

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

arebenti 31 May 2009 01:00

This is one year old and demonstrates the relevance:

Brussels, 22nd May 2008
Antitrust: Commission takes note of Microsoft's announcement on supporting ODF in Office

The European Commission has taken note of Microsoft's announcement on 21st May concerning supporting ODF in Office. The Commission would welcome any step that Microsoft took towards genuine interoperability, more consumer choice and less vendor lock-in. In its ongoing antitrust investigation concerning interoperability with Microsoft Office (see MEMO/08/19), the Commission will investigate whether the announced support of ODF (OpenDocument format) in Office leads to better interoperability and allows consumers to process and exchange their documents with the software product of their choice.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/324&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr

Re: Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF

Luc Bollen 08 May 2009 18:43

I received from the ODF Alliance the following response to my email:

That’s the plan for next week. A harder-hitting press release with Fact Sheet. Stay tuned!