Microsoft Reverses on OpenDocument Format

GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
edited July 2006 in Science & Tech
Microsoft has reversed its prior position and has agreed to support the OpenDocument Format in Office 2007 by providing a converter from its Open XML format to Open Document.
A beta of the Open XML translator for Word 2007 will be hosted on SourceForge.net sometime today. The translator will convert .docx Word documents to .odf and vice versa. Not only that, it will be available under the BSD open source license. Vole says anyone can submit bugs and contribute to the project.

The final tool will ship at the end of 2006, with converters for Excel and PowerPoint around early next year.
Source: The Inquirer

Comments

  • jhenryjhenry California's Wine Country
    edited July 2006
    A converter is not enough. Something that important should be integrated, not a plugin or a download from SF. Otherwise, how different would it really be from any other opensource style converter?
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    You mean microsoft finally has something that is not proprietary? I mean yeh, its just a document format, but hey, thats pretty good, and its xml, so should make for cleaner files.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    I agree entirely with JHenry, a converter isn't enough and it will be the difference between widely used and not.
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    The problem with 'integrated' is that it could not then be offered under the <strike>BSOD</strike> BSD open source license.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    Yeh, thats right, if it was integrated, M$ would have to give a lot a lot away as far as the inner working of office.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    General Keebler wrote:
    The problem with 'integrated' is that it could not then be offered under the <strike>BSOD</strike> BSD open source license.

    Doesn't matter. Anyone can make a converter. Only MS can make Office able to open the format natively.
    airbornflght wrote:
    Yeh, thats right, if it was integrated, M$ would have to give a lot a lot away as far as the inner working of office.

    No they wouldn't, that would only happen if they included licenced code. If they wrote it themselves (which they would) then they wouldn't have to release anything.

    This is simply just MS trying to get some good PR to those that don't realise it won't help at all.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    Enverex wrote:
    Doesn't matter. Anyone can make a converter. Only MS can make Office able to open the format natively.



    No they wouldn't, that would only happen if they included licenced code. If they wrote it themselves (which they would) then they wouldn't have to release anything.

    This is simply just MS trying to get some good PR to those that don't realise it won't help at all.

    I thought under the BSD license, the source had to be made available?:scratch:
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    airbornflght wrote:
    I thought under the BSD license, the source had to be made available?:scratch:

    .... and what open source code exactly will be in Office that would bring the BSD licence into effect?
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    openoffice. Their format, so it must be reissued under the same license.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    airbornflght wrote:
    openoffice. Their format, so it must be reissued under the same license.

    But Office WONT include OpenOffice code, MS will write code to be able to open OpenOffice files, they wont be using BSD copyrighted code, it will be their own, ergo nothing will be under the BSD licence so nothing will have to be revealed.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    but isnt the format copyrighted under BSD?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    airbornflght wrote:
    but isnt the format copyrighted under BSD?

    No, BSD copyrights CODE, not "things". It copyrights that "thing" using their specific code. That's how WINE works, it's all Windows things but written from scratch by other people (the dlls, etc).
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