The Proliferation of Linux

ISO has responded to the appeal launched against OOXML standardisation.  In essence ISO says that there is no grounds for appeal and that the process was just fine and dandy.

1. All judgments made during the course of the process were appropriately made under the Directives
2. The fact that the BRM voted on all proposed resolutions in some fashion satisfies the Directives
3. The fact that a sufficient percentage of National Bodies (NBs) ultimately voted to approve DIS 29500 ratifies the process and any flaws in that process
4. Many objections, regardless of their merits, are irrelevant to the appeals process

Groklaw & ConsortiumInfo.org [via Slashdot]

I missed this last week, Venezuala has joined Brazil, South Africa and India in the opposition of OOXML.

Although the deadline for appealing the March 29 decision was to be within two months, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have reportedly accepted Venezuela’s appeal despite the fact that it was made after that time.

Denmark has also filed an appeal with the ISO, according to Computerworld Denmark, but that report could not be confirmed.

Linux Insider [via Tectonic]

Despite the deadline for appeals having already lapsed, Denmark has become the fourth country (after South Africa, Brazil and India) to appeal the OOXML decision.  The reasons cited include that ISO rules were broken, there was no consensus in Denmark, and that the Fast Track process “has been formally annulled for 2 months now - since the 29th of March, where the specification should have been sent to the national standardization organizations. The basis for a fast track procedure is no longer present, and I therefore expect ISO to pick up the case again.”

This article seems to be raising a serious question. If there is no final draft yet, and for unknown reasons there isn’t, and if Microsoft itself is not supporting OOXML yet, and it says it isn’t, how is true interoperability possible? This couldn’t be a deliberate delay game, could it? I hate to think that, but I confess this article has started me thinking in a brand new way about the delay in delivering the final draft. And since currently Microsoft isn’t supporting ODF, only promising to do so someday, where does that leave interoperability? Finally, since ODF 1.1, as I understand it, has issues with spreadsheets and accessibility that are solved in ODF 1.2, why did Microsoft choose to support the version that works less well? Is their goal really interoperability or just the appearance of a willingness to do it someday?

Groklaw has the full story, and more analysis…

Groklaw [via Slashdot]

It seems that in addition to South Africa and Brazil, India is also launching its own appeal against the standardisation of OOXML.  Looks like Microsoft is going to have a tougher time pushing OOXML through ISO than it previously thought…

The Indian appeal was not filed according to official procedure, but will be considered nonetheless.

“By the deadline last night, we had received three appeals, from Brazil, India and South Africa,” said Jonathan Buck, spokesman for IEC.

“The Indian appeal was not lodged in the correct procedure it was not send to the CEOs of the two organizations but nonetheless it has been received,” Buck said, adding that it will be treated in the same way as the Brazilian and South African appeals.

The New York Times

South Africa has already launched an appeal against the standardisation of OOXML and now Brazil is following suit.  Apparently the reason why the appeal took so long was that Microsoft represantitives were in the meetings and kept asking for delays:

At the end of this presentation, the representative of [Microsoft] has taken the line of defense for his companions in the room: “I am not prepared, at this meeting, to evaluate the arguments and decide. I need more time.” It is worth highlighting that this meeting was scheduled on May 8th (date of our last meeting) and officially convened on May 19th.

[ homembit via Slashdot]