Sorry for being too harsh on this topic, it is sometimes I just feel very angry about Microsoft trying to do this.

Ok, it is just irony, and I am just venting off and that’s nothing personal, guys. I think you rock supporting free software and GNOME project especially.

BUT….I think in this one case free software/open source community should have been very resistant to support OOXML. First of all, I think, OOXML as it is now is meant for failure (as standard, it doesn’t fully answers to Office2007 output, it has numerous small but annoying errors, etc.). Microsoft knows this and I strongly suggest that OOXML 2 is already in the works. That’s first. Second, OOXML can be supported, but not trough ISO standardisation process, because I think, GNOME can’t support something so borked like OOXML to become ISO. I hope agree with this.

Anyway, keep in mind that people have been getting more and more angry about Microsoft actions as trying to twist and even corrupt (or walking borderline) ISO standardisation process just to push OOXML trough. So most of shouting is not against you, but is against Microsoft, in fact.

I like reading your blog post, showing that GNOME’s position is not really in favor of OOXML as a standard, and that GNOME only gets involved out of perceived necessity.

However, I still disagree with GNOME’s position! I think that, regardless of statements such as this blog entry, Microsoft will find a way to make it all sound like “even core members of the FOSS community such as GNOME are supporting OOXML”. Journalists often do a very poor job checking the details, and so do biased members of standardization committees. In other words, sadly, I think Microsoft is manipulating GNOME. I hate saying this! But I’m really quite confident about that.

So I think that the only good way to deal with OOXML is to reject it completely, without any ambiguity.

Of course I wouldn’t say that, if OOXML constituted the beginning of a sincere attempt from Microsoft to improve its relationship to the FOSS community. But that’s not the case. OOXML is just the latest example of Microsoft’s way of leveraging file formats to kill competition. There’s no reason to be more optimistic than that.

Thank you for this accurate, concise and well written summary of the situation.