__/ [ B Gruff ] on Saturday 08 July 2006 16:22 \__
> On Saturday 08 July 2006 08:09 Jim Richardson wrote:
>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> On Fri, 07 Jul 2006 13:29:49 +0100,
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> Microsoft shows its ankle for open source
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>| Microsoft's J Cannon wants you to know that the ODF Add-in for Word 2007
>>>| is not simply free. It's open... as in free source code. To further
>>>| embed that message, the author drones: The Open XML Translator is an
>>>| Open Source project.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://www.trimmail.com/news/elsewhere/data/1152214772.86/
>>
>>
>> I am sure we will now see Erik et al step in and state that MS should
>> stop wasting time, diluting effort, and instead join one of the existing
>> OSS projects for this.
>>
>> Right Erik?
>
> I stand to be corrected on this (please feel free), but my understanding is
> that the situation is actually worse than you state.
> My understanding is that the "MS Plugin" is an Import and Export facility.
> My understanding of the "true FOSS" projects is that they are working on
> plug-ins which will allow one to open, work on, and save in ODF from MS
> Office, just as though it were .TXT or .DOC etc.
>
> As I say, I might be wrong, but if I'm right, the latter is a superb way to
> do it, and the former (MS) way is what we call a real ball-ache!
Interesting. It get more curiosity-inspiring by the day. Could Microsoft's
proposed 'translator' be merely a way to push away the otherwise forced
inclusion of third-party plug-ins?
Earlier today I read that there were /several/ other projects that achieve
the same thing as Microsoft did. Microsoft, however, snubbed these
completely and started its own open source project with a restrictive
licence (BSD-affiliated?).
I am beginning to suspect that Microsoft wanted to have rivals and clients
off its back. It got what it had wanted while the plug-in remains in its
complete control, i.e. it can be crippled, restricted, sabotaged, or even
sold (albeit I very much doubt the last).
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | X-No-Archive: No. Stand behind what you say
http://Schestowitz.com | Free as in Free Beer ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Cpu(s): 19.9% user, 3.4% system, 15.2% nice, 61.5% idle
http://iuron.com - semantic engine to gather information
|
|
