[kictanet] OOXML: Why Kenya Should Vote NO

[Dorcas Muthoni]

*What is an Office Document Standard*

A standard file format that would allow office documents such as
spreadsheets and word processing files to be opened by applications from
different vendors.

*Why Open Standards

* Creating an open office file format suggests that documents created in an
application that supports that file format could be opened in other
applications that support it as well. E.g. A document written using
OpenOffice for example, could be opened in Ms Office without affecting the
layout or formatting.

With an open standard;

   - You can choose any operating system or application and still be able
   to read and edit all your old documents e.g. whether it is Windows,
   Macintosh, Linux, Unix.
   - You can collaborate with others regardless of which software they
   are using e.g. whether it is LotusNotes, OpenOffice, Ms Office,
   StarOffice, GoogleApps .
   - You can use any software of your choice to exchange documents within
   your organization, with your clients, partners, government and everyone
   else.

The goal of an open standard is to free corporate data from proprietary file
formats so they can be accessed for years to come no matter what office
software a company or government is using. Companies and governments are
currently saving data in proprietary file formats, such as those written in
Microsoft's Office software (.doc, .xls, .ppt, and lately .docx, .xlsx,
.pptx), and locking themselves into using that software indefinitely.

A relative example is, we all develop our websites and expect to
successfully access them using various browser software (Mozilla Firefox,
Netscape, Safari, Internet Explorer etc). We successfully manage to do this
because of HTML, XML and Browser open standardization.

The same should happen for office documents and hence definition of open
document standards.

*What is ODF*

ODF(OpenDocument Format) an ISO standard created with the aim to provide an
open XML-based document file format for office applications to be used for
documents containing text, spreadsheets, charts, and graphical elements. ODF
is defined via an open and transparent process at OASIS ( The Organization
for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) and has been
approved unanimously by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as an
international standard in May 2006. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel
ODF reuses established standards like HTML, SVG, XSL, SMIL, XLink, XForms,
MathML, and Dublin Core.

ODF leaves space for all present and future vendors do implement it and
makes sure that end users won't suffer from any sort of vendor lock-in. In
contrast to earlier used binary formats which were cryptic and difficult to
process, ODF's use of XML makes accessing the document content simple.

ODF guarantees long-term viability. The OASIS ODF TC, the OASIS ODF Adoption
TC, and the ODF Alliance include members from Adobe, BBC, EDS, EMC, GNOME,
Google, IBM, Intel, KDE, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, Software AG and Sun
Microsystems. Since June 2006 the ODF Alliance has already more than 300
members.

*What is OOXML*

A format proposed by Microsoft that comes closest to ODF in function, but it
fails the test for an Open Standard in various ways, including an unclear
legal status as well as inclusion of and reference to proprietary
technologies. It has all signs of a vendor-specific format that only
Microsoft will be able to implement completely.

Microsoft, which dominates the office software market with its Office suite,
is a member of OASIS and was fully aware of the technical committee that
came up with ODF. However, they opted to make Ms Office 2007 heavily reliant
on XML and also initiated a parallel technical committee to develop a
standard file format the MS OOXML.

Ms Office 2007 *does not* support ODF.  What Microsoft has done is to push
MS OOXML through a fast track process to have the standard certified by ISO.
The standard is being reviewed by technical committees (TC) formed through
national standards bodies. The TCs pass a vote through a ballot process. The
ballot resolutions are then forwarded to ISO, if the outcome is greater
support for MS OOXML, then the standard will be passed.


*Why should we reject a proprietary standard like OOXML

*

   1. We live in a digital age where paper documents increasingly get
   replaced by electronic records. We may even see the day we no longer use
   paper and pen to keep records. In this situation long-term data becomes
   critical. This is especially the case for legal contracts and government
   documents which stay valid and relevant over decades, or even centuries.
   Just like there were many vendors supplying paper and pens through out the
   history, and not a single one, so do these formats and applications which
   are used to make them need to be vendor independent. That is the only
   guanrantee of long-term access to data, even if companies disappear, change
   their strategies or dramatically raise their prices.
   2. The Kenyan technical committee (hosted by KEBS) reviewing the MS
   OOXML standard was inappropriately constituted and is highly imbalanced.
   Microsoft recommended business partners to this committee and the first vote
   returned a yes resolution because of this imbalance. On March 19th 2008, the
   committee passed an Abstain resolution which Microsoft is now strongly
   appealing against.
   3. Further, the MS OOXML standard is defined in 6,000+ pages and with
   the fast track process, it is barely possible to review the standard
   comprehensively. This standard must be reviewed via the regular standard
   process.
   4. MS OOXML is a proposed parallel standard without a justification.
   5. *OOXML has patent issues*

For all those with questions, feel free to ask.

-- 
Muthoni

My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------
Mahatma Gandhi once said:-

First they ignore you,
Then they laugh at you,
Then they fight you,
AND THEN YOU WIN!!!
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