Another Reason Microsoft's OSP Isn't Good Enough

We've seen the reasons given by the Free Software Law Center as to why Microsoft's Open Specification Promise, or OSP, provides no assurance for FOSS developers. But what about everyone else?

Here's an issue that affects everyone, not just FOSS developers, as explained by the Free Software Foundation South America in a long discussion of OOXML and why NBs should not approve it:

It carries a number of dependencies on earlier Microsoft decisions, not all of which are part of the already-huge specification, and Microsoft's promise covers only fully-compliant implementations. But Microsoft Office isn't fully compliant with the OOXML (Office Open XML) specification, therefore those who seek interoperability with Microsoft's software won't be covered by its promise.

Eek. I understand that to be saying that there are gaps in OSP coverage. You'll get documents you can't legally open unless you are using Microsoft's software, because the extensions found in Office but not in OOXML proper, so to speak, are not covered. Let me explain what I think they are saying this means.

We knew we'd get documents we couldn't open effectively from a technical standpoint, without at least losing something in the translation. But if extensions to the OOXML format, as exemplified in Microsoft Office 2007, are not covered by the OSP, and evidently they are not, when you get a document with, say, spreadsheet macros, or DRM, what legally protects you if open the document? All Microsoft has to do, then, is extend the format, as it already has, and you then can only interoperate with them if you use Microsoft software too. So. OSP gaps. Nice work if you can get it.

Czechs Support OOXML - Will Others?

Chalk up another one for Microsoft. Four more to go.

The Czech Republic's delegation to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has decided to reverse its vote from September and will instead vote to approve Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) as a standard.

Now, all that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) the and European standards group Ecma International have left to do is garner four more national delegations to change their votes from "Disapprove" to "Approve." The deadline for that is this weekend.

At the same time, the rift between critics and supporters couldn't get any wider, and a flurry of heated language continues to fly back and forth across the blogosphere over the vote, the standard and, Microsoft. Most recently, the loudest howls have come from two well-known bloggers who were previously comrades in arms.

Each has posted a list of why, or why not, OOXML should be approved. However, the debate is unlikely to end any time soon, no matter what happens come Saturday.

That is the last day that delegations from all of the nations that voted in the so-called "fast track" process to make OOXML an ISO standard can change their votes.

OOXML originated as the default file formats for Microsoft Office 2007 – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. While there is already a document interchange standard for office productivity applications called OpenDocument Format (ODF), Microsoft has been pushing hard to get OOXML certified by the ISO. For one thing, it needs to ensure that it does not get frozen out of billions in sales to governments and other organizations who require that products support ISO standards in order to participate in bidding.

Microsoft lost in the original balloting. However, that didn't end the proceedings. Ecma, which has already certified OOXML as a standard for document interchange, and Microsoft, had six months to resolve some 3,500 "comments" – i.e., problems – raised by the participants.

Laying the Groundwork for OS Systems Management

The systems management space has been dominated by proprietary vendors like IBM Tivoli and HP OpenView for years, though in recent years open source upstarts are trying to make a dent. Among those upstarts are GroundWork and Hyperic, both of whom are out this week with new product releases.

For GroundWork, the new release is GroundWork Monitor 5.2 as well as a new Enterprise Edition that can scale to up to 10,000 servers. The Enterprise Edition complements GroundWork's existing Professional and Community Editions.

GroundWork Monitor first took the stage nearly two years ago as an integrated suite of open source systems management tools, including the popular Nagios network monitoring tool.

With the 5.2 release, GroundWork is adding new auto configuration and discovery functionality as well as improved reporting features.

According to David Dennis, senior director of product marketing at GroundWork the key competitor is HP's OpenView. Dennis noted that they rarely run into other vendors in competitive situations except for IBM Tivoli. "The lion's share of market is HP OpenView and that is where we feel we offer the biggest benefit for the customer," Dennis said.

On the other end of the spectrum is open source systems management vendor Hyperic who is also out with a new release this week. Hyperic HQ 3.2 includes a new plug-in architecture which is intended to make the entire platform more extensible.

"Largely this is a wrapper or extension of our APIs that is more accessible/friendly to our users," Paul Melmon, senior vice president of engineering at Hyperic told InternetNews.com. "However, due to its modular design and ease of use, it has changed our engineering development patterns. We can develop faster, and provide additional components of functionality independent of the core HQ management platform."

Panel: Weakening Economy Good for Open Source

The absence of money is a big catalyst for innovation, particularly around open-source solutions, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth said.

SAN FRANCISCO—Experience has shown a weakening U.S. economy would be good for open source, as a shortage of cash is usually a major catalyst for innovation, particularly around open-source applications, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu Linux, said at the annual Open Source Business Conference here March 25.

Roger Burkhardt, president and CEO of open-source database firm Ingres, agreed, noting that as the economy slows, budgets tighten and people have to do more with less. Also concurring was Zak Olaf, vice president of products at MySQL, who said the lower cost of open source is part of its appeal in an economic climate such as the current one.

They were all speaking on a panel titled “The Future of Open Source: Exploring the Investments, Innovations, Applications, Opportunities and Threats.” They were also responding to the findings of North Bridge Venture Partners’ annual “Future of Open Source” survey, which found that 81 percent of respondents thought economic turbulence is good for open source.

The survey also found that lower acquisition and maintenance costs, access to libraries of code, and freedom from vendor lock-in are the factors that make open-source software most attractive.

“We are also now at the tipping point, where people are actually starting to examine at what point and for what reasons they would now use proprietary software. They are now looking for reasons to justify using proprietary solutions rather than open-source ones,” Shuttleworth said.

Software Freedom Law Center spins off law firm for profit-making clients

The new company is "wholly owned and operated by SFLC," Ravicher says. "We didn't want to form an entirely separated law firm, as Eben and I want any and all revenues from such for-fee work to go to support SFLC's operations." In return, Moglen Ravicher will use the SFLC's resources, including its lawyers' time.

The creation of the new firm was necessary because the SFLC's self-appointed mandate is to assist only nonprofit clients. "We formed Moglen Ravicher LLC in order to offer the same services we provide through the Software Freedom Law Center to those members of the free and open source community who are not eligible for SFLC's pro bono services," Ravicher says.

Part of the reason for this mandate, Moglen explains, is that "it enables us to explain in a clear and transparent way to our supervisory authorities -- that is, the Charities Bureau of the New York State Attorney General, which regulates us as a New York state nonprofit, and the Internal Revenue Service, which governs our tax deductions -- how we are conducting our operation."

Open Source - Growing Up

As far as I am concerned, OSBC is the most important conference of the year for those who are looking to use open source to create leverage for their business. If you were not able to attend this year … know that you missed out and you should make an effort to get to next years event; it’s the week of March 10th: plan accordingly. :-) For those that couldn’t attend, you can find a lot of analysis here on Matt Asay’s Blog, The Open Road. There were many interesting, insightful, and practical keynotes and sessions over the course of the two-day event. Of particular note: R0ml Leftowitz’s talk on IT: Forget The Factory, Enterprise IT is a Deli, all keynotes/footnote addresses, the panel on open source acquisition, and several of the panel discussion where customers were able to give real world feedback on their experience implementing Open Source. As a customer trying to walk in their shoes the customer centric sessions and keynotes are extremely helpful.

I am very grateful for OSBC, the folks who put it together and for those who take time to speak and attend – it’s simply an invaluable opportunity to learn from and interact with the brilliant folks who are changing the face of the software industry as we know it.

Every OSBC has had a transformative effect on my thinking concerning open source and this year is no exception. However, this year the thinking is of a much different nature than in years past and I’m still trying to digest and understand it. It’s probably not the best idea to blog until I have come to terms more fully with my thoughts but what the heck… what fun would that be?

Social Technology: Bringing Power to the People

A world without many of the organizations we rely on today is somewhat hard to imagine, and examples of current corporations that are embracing the changes throughout their organizational structures are still scarce. For many companies, adoption of social tools remains the domain of one department -- often marketing or advertising -- rather than a goal of the enterprise at large.


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"Our principal challenge is not to decide where we want to go, but to stay upright as we go there." In his book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, author and New York University faculty member Clay Shirky describes the profound impact of social technological tools on contemporary culture -- from e-mail E-Mail Marketing Software - Free Trial. Click Here. and blogs to Twitter and wikis.

Shirky's book, an example-laden history of the development of such tools, is well-timed. Last week, as anti-government protests erupted in Tibet, China moved forcefully to quash news of the clash by restricting Internet access to YouTube Latest News about YouTube as well as censoring mainstream outlets such as the BBC and CNN. However, underscoring many of Shirky's central points, the crackdown failed as witnesses bypassed the country's "Great Firewall" by uploading photos and videos to other, uncensored Web sites. On Mar. 20 the state-run news agency, Xinhua, acknowledged that troops had injured four protesters -- the first time China made such an admission since the protests began, and arguably a by-product of its failure to limit the flow of information.