Open Document Format Can Evolve Without Foundation Input (eWeek) [LWN.net]

Peter Galli considers the future of the Open Document Format on eWeek. "The recent demise of the OpenDocument Foundation is not expected to have any impact whatsoever on the progress and adoption of the Open Document Format. While the Foundation's legacy is the subject of much debate, several commentators say its greatest contribution to the ODF movement was its enthusiastic early support for the document format, and little else."

(Log in to post comments)

Open Document Format Can Evolve Without Foundation Input (eWeek)

Posted Nov 29, 2007 23:43 UTC (Thu) by flewellyn (subscriber, #5047) [Link]

I confess, when I heard that the Open Document Foundation was dissolving, my first reaction was, "who?"

Open Document Format Can Evolve Without Foundation Input (eWeek)

Posted Nov 30, 2007 8:27 UTC (Fri) by DeletedUser32991 ((unknown), #32991) [Link]

And the second "cares?"?

Open Document Format Can Evolve Without Foundation Input (eWeek)

Posted Nov 30, 2007 16:20 UTC (Fri) by hitmark (guest, #34609) [Link]

your not alone, i thought ODF was something borne out of the openoffice development.

Open Document Format Can Evolve Without Foundation Input (eWeek)

Posted Nov 30, 2007 14:37 UTC (Fri) by mbottrell (guest, #43008) [Link]

Geez I hate the sensational articles of EWeek.

Their writers are little more than soap-box drama queens.

The OpenDocument Foundation never represented ODF, Oasis or anything to do with OpenOffice and
it's formats.

It was a couple of nut-jobs who jumped on the bandwagon.
Please don't credit these wackos with anything to do with the ODF format.

Open Document Format Can Evolve Without Foundation Input (eWeek)

Posted Nov 30, 2007 16:33 UTC (Fri) by swhiser (guest, #17197) [Link]

mbottrell- 

Actually, it may be useful to set the record straight.

The Foundation's President, Gary Edwards, was one of the original members of the OASIS ODF TC
from its inception in 2002 and a part of a group of enterprise document format experts (from
Speedlegal, Boeing, Arbortext, Corel, Stellent and others) who collaborated with people from
Sun to create ODF v1.0 -- which is the version currently ratified by ISO.

No individuals among the current contributors to ODF were involved in its important first v1.0
phase. 

Gary is the longest-serving member in the history of the ODF TC (and sub-committees); and the
only member in the history of the TC to have a 100% attendance record until his personal
departure from the work in mid-2007.

From its inception in 2005 (around the time ISO ratified ODF), the Foundation supported many
important contributors to the ODF TC, including Dan Bricklin, who invented the spreadsheet;
and others who chaired the important OASIS ODF sub-committees, Formula and Metadata.

The Foundation and people supported by the Foundation played a significant role in ODF's
development. ODF's continuation is not dependent upon the Foundation. I struggle to understand
where that idea came from.