Miguel Loves OOXML!

[Tom Schinckel]

On Tue, 2007-09-11 at 18:27 +1000, Jeff Waugh wrote:
> <quote who="Tom Schinckel">
> 
> > http://linux.slashdot.org/linux/07/09/10/2343256.shtml
> > 
> > Dunno if this is just ./ sillyness, but I think it's quite
> disturbing that
> > a leading member of the FOSS community has come out in support of
> OOXML
> > over ODF...
> 
> Miguel hasn't said a heck of a lot in support of OOXML as a standard,
> but
> what is concerning about him having a positive point of view on it as
> a
> technology?

Reading some of the less-modded ./ comments know, it seems that Miguel
was saying more that OOXML was easier to implement because you could
borrow a bunch of stuff from the existing doc filters. Which isn't good
per se

> I've heard very similar things from plenty of folks actually implementing
> office and document processing applications (rather than the ones who are
> whingeing about the technology without ever actually using it in anger).

Just out of interest, is Miguel implementing/maintaining a office app
ATM? He did have a rather large role in gnumeric if my memory serves me
correctly.

One of the concerning things I read was Miguel claiming that we didn't
need to use the properitary useMSWord95Table tags etc. because there
where other tags: it was concerning that he seemed to miss the point
that MS _would_ use them and then we'd have a "embrace, extend.
extinguish" situation by essentially there being two (most likely
incompatiable) versions of the OOXML standard, one with and one sans MS
closed-format tags. I have a lot of respect for Miguel: (he founded my
desktop!) but how long will it be before the he becomes a spokesperson,
willingly or not, for the MS FUD machine? 

"Famous open source developers prefer OOXML"
						~ Steve Ballmer

~tom