odf as a format [LWN.net]

odf as a format

Posted Dec 1, 2005 9:55 UTC (Thu) by wingo (guest, #26929)
Parent article: When Is a Standard Truly Open? - When It's Universal, Reflections on Massachusetts and Microsoft's XML

From what I've heard from some developers of Abiword and Gnumeric, the ODF formats end up being reflections of openoffice.org's internal structure rather than well-designed formats. One even said that Microsoft's spreadsheet format was better designed (licensing issues aside of course).

While Jones is correct in her assessment of the viability of MS' XML, the ODF grassroots appear to me to be made of OO.o astroturf.

Corrections welcome of course -- I'm pretty ignorant about the topic.

(Log in to post comments)

odf as a format

Posted Dec 1, 2005 11:31 UTC (Thu) by nathan (subscriber, #3559) [Link]

Whilst no specificly addressing spreadsheet requirements, this Format comparison between ODF and MS XML shows fairly clearly to me which format is better.

odf as a format

Posted Dec 2, 2005 20:43 UTC (Fri) by pimlott (guest, #1535) [Link]

Let me get this straight: You conclude which is a better spreadsheet format, from a comparison which, you acknowledge, doesn't address spreadsheet requirements, but rather focuses on superficial matters such as stylistic conventions and affinity to other standards? And you poo-poo the statements of actual developers of office software? That makes no sense.

Both MS Office and OpenOffice are gigantic, hyper-featureful systems with over a decade of history. It's hardly surprising that their document formats, even newer XML-based formats, reflect their labyrinthine internal structures. It's going to take some hard study to determine which is a better "open" office format, or whether neither is really suitable.

Why is it that as soon as XML enters the picture, complex and difficult issues of representation and semantics suddently evaporate, and all we have to argue about is whether or not they used mixed-content?