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0 pointsptx11y ago0 comments

> They moved Office to an open file format.

Or rather: When OpenDocument was standardized by ISO and threatened to create demand for open, common, standardized interchange formats, they created a similarly and confusingly named XML version of their existing format, with insufficient documentation to allow complete third-party implementations, and pushed it as a competing ISO standard, using tricks such as (accidentally, I believe they said) encouraging partner companies to join standards bodies just for the vote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Standards_Institute#The...

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thinkpad2011y ago

> insufficient documentation

That may have been true at the time, but the documentation for OpenXML is actually very good. It's incredibly detailed -- I think the standard is somewhere around 5000 pages, and fairly readable. Of course, I haven't ever actually had to write my own implementation (thank god).

thinkpad2011y ago

Whoever downvoted this care to explain? :|

brudgers11y ago

That's the way standards work. OpenDocument did not meet MicroSoft's needs. They were the one with a massive investment in an existing code base and customers who would be best served by feature compatibility. So they used the same process to create something with equal legitimacy.

As Grace Hopper said, the great thing about standards is there a are so many to choose from.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsptx11y ago0 comments

> They moved Office to an open file format.

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thinkpad2011y ago

> insufficient documentation

thinkpad2011y ago

Whoever downvoted this care to explain? :|

brudgers11y ago

As Grace Hopper said, the great thing about standards is there a are so many to choose from.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse