Klaus Knopper, creator of Knoppix, makes some pragmatic proposals on the way forward:
- The proposed standard must be implementable by everyone. Insufficient or vendor-specific documentation cannot be implemented by anyone in full.
- The proposed standard must be architecture- and operating-system independent.
- The proposed standard must not be obfuscated.
- All components and interfaces must be openly disclosed and documented in full, and not given as a "container" for proprietary content.
- The proposed standard must not contain patented/proprietary components.
- Implementing the standard must be royalty-free.
Jeremy Allison criticises the Open Specification promise:
There is considerable legal uncertainty around the scope of Microsoft's Open Specification Promise covering OOXML, which appears only to cover the exact version of the specification currently published, but not any optional portions, future revisions or enhancements. It doesn't even appear to cover the portions that specify how to read all OOXML files converted by Office 2007 from .DOC files. The legal uncertainty surrounding the scope of this license grant weighs heavily against the propriety of ISO acceptance of the OOXML standard.
Source: Linux Foundation
Comments
Basically Klaus Knoppers wants Open XML to become a true Open Standard. One of the uncertainties is the Microsoft Open Specification Promise. It is untested in court, nobody really knows if its applicable on a worldwide scale and how to determine its scope and validity. Larry Rosen indicated it is okay for the US law. Grokdoc spoke of an "empty" promise. Sun had concerns.
