Miguel's delusions of grandeur

By Sam Varghese
Monday, 29 October 2007 22:13

Opinion and Analysis

Novell is the common thread in all this - it is exhibit A if Microsoft is accused of not working on interoperability. Incidentally, this also means that Microsoft can get rid of Novell any time it pleases but this doesn't bother folk like de Icaza.

What has been happening is that Microsoft is now using the support that Gnumeric has for OOXML to push its claim that the format is an open standard that can be implemented; in other words, Gnumeric is serving as an advertisement for a specification from a proprietary software company.

The scenario which de Icaza often talks about seems illogical. Visualise if you will a software company that practically owns the desktop space and much of the server space too. This company, which produces proprietary software, is able to look after developers very well simply because it has the resources and it realises that they are the key to making inroads into any tech space.

And here we have an individual who decides to replicate some of the proprietary company's development environments - for reasons best known to him alone - and keeps telling people that the reason he's doing it is so that he can pull people over from the proprietary company's side to his side!!!

In all of the discussion about OOXML, few if any have pointed out that ECMA is nothing more than an industry association dedicated to the standardisation of information and communication technology and consumer electronics. It can be dissolved on the morrow. It is a not a government body which is accountable to the public. And like all industry organisations, those who keep it afloat will call the tune.

Microsoft wants to dictate standards so that it can have control over open source software which conforms to those standards. Then later, there will come a stage when the standards are tweaked a bit and interoperability turns to inoperability. This has happened far too many times in the tech industry to warrant recounting.

Only a fool - or someone who has some deep-seated motive - would be trying to tailgate APIs from a company like Microsoft. All that I can say is someone is not telling us the whole story.