Open Malaysia

Again with thanks to my colleagues who have been compiling related articles on these, here's a digest of 23 pieces of news and articles on ODF, OOXML and the open source scene over the last one month from 05 July 2007 to 26 July 2007.

26 July 2007
Office Open XML ISO certification process grows even murkier for Microsoft
By Jeremy Reimer
The general trend among non-US countries is for rejection of the Office Open XML fast-track proposal, with many nations voicing objections to the process and some to the file format itself."  Events in South Africa and Portugal ("a comedic farce," according to the reporter) are described.
ARS Technica: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070726-office-open-xml-iso-certification-process-grows-even-murkier-for-microsoft.html

25 July 2007
ODF: The inevitable format
By T. Colin Dodd
"Opponents of the ODF devote considerable resources to lobbying legislatures and executive branch IT advisory boards in an attempt to convince them that the adoption of the ODF actually limits choice..."
Red Hat Magazine: http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2007/07/25/odf-the-inevitable-format

25 July 2007
Microsoft: INCITS standards committee will approve Open XML
By Elizabeth Montalbano
Correspondent Liz Montalbano takes Microsoft to task for falsely claiming that an advisory committee for the U.S. national body had approved ooXML.  Bob Sutor is quoted, calling for more openness in revealing how Microsoft is influencing ISO national body deliberations.
InfoWorld: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/25/standards-committee-undecided-on-Open-XML_1.html

24 July 2007
Now It's Spain and OOXML - More Standards Highjinks?
By Pamela Jones
The Andalusia region of Spain has "sent an official letter of protest to the president of the technical committee deciding whether or not to accept OOXML as an ISO standard, denouncing what it called an attempt by Microsoft to manipulate the process by selectively quoting from a letter from the Andalusian government back in January as if it were an endorsement of OOXML as an ISO standard today."
Groklaw: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070723235113424

24 July 2007
World awaits crucial votes on Microsoft's Open XML
By Martin LaMonica
An ANSI committee confirmed that it had not yet reached a recommendation on how the US standards body will vote on ooXML.  A passage from a recent Bob Sutor's blog post is quoted:  "The fundamental question is whether a large company with a lot of money and business partners will essentially be able to stack committees so that they are out of balance and therefore buy an ISO standard. I, for one, do not think this is appropriate. I doubt ISO does either."
CNet: http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9749069-7.html

24 July 2007
Double standards
By Leslie D`Monte
India may be inclined to disapprove of OOXML as an ISO standard.  Reasons cited include threats to sovereignty and the confusion of a duplicate document format.
Business Standard (India): http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu9&subLeft=&autono=292022&tab=r

23 July 2007
Update on the US Vote on OOXML (and What Happens Next)
By Andy Updergrove
"I conducted an extensive interview over the weekend with an individual that is a member of both the V1 Technical Committee as well as the INCITS Executive Board in order to learn the steps that have been agreed upon to finalize the US position, so that we may all make the best sense of what we read and hear between now and the conclusion of the comment period."
Stadards Blog: http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20070723044713169

23 July 2007
A computer battle that could change the world as you know it
By Jeremy Howard
The case for a single, neutral document standard, and the elimination of Microsoft's maketplace domination, is made forcefully here.
Parliamentary Brief (requires subscription): http://www.thepolitician.org/articles/a-computer-battle-571.html

23 July 2007
Study: Red Hat Benefiting from MS-Novell Deal Fallout
By  Peter Galli
A survey found that deployments of Red Hat Linux have grown twice as fast as those for Novell SUSE Linux since Novell signed its agreement with Microsoft.  The survey also found that governments were leading Linux adoption in Europe, while in the US, corporations led.
eWeek: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2161500,00.php

20 July 2007
Proprietizing Standards
By Pamela Jones
Microsoft is misleading India's national body around the OOXML issue, and is being exclusionary in Portugal.  Meanwhile, Google is saying no to OOXML.
Groklaw: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070720073215943

20 July 2007
Patrick names MIT exec to Mass. CIO role
By Catherine Williams
"Gov. Deval Patrick has named MIT and Harvard technologist Anne Margulies as the state's new CIO."
Massachusetts High Tech: http://masshightech.bizjournals.com/masshightech/stories/2007/07/16/daily39.html

19 July 2007
Open standards beat Microsoft 13 to 4
By James Archibald
"Microsoft's plans of having its OOXML document format accepted as a national standard were thwarted by a conclusive vote against the move in a meeting yesterday."
Tectonic (South Africa): http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1641

19 July 2007
Microsoft Faces Petition To Defeat Office 2007 Standard
By Paul McDougall
The Foundation For Free Infrastructure Information says that more than 20,000 people have signed a petition opposing ooXML.

18 July 2007
Open XML - US V1 Committee Vote and IBM Motivations
By Jason Matusow
In the comments section of this blog post by Microsoft's Jason Matusow, IBM's Rob Weir asks Jason Matusow:  "You also say that, 'Rob seems determined to question the motivations behind national body membership in Spain, Portugal and Italy as well.'  Where in the post do I do that? In fact, I'm not even aware of a problem in Spain.  Should I be?"
Matusow's Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonmatusow/archive/2007/07/18/open-xml-us-v1-committee-vote-and-ibm-motivations.php

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