OSIA says adopt OpenDocument format like Microsoft

Stan Beer
Friday, 07 July 2006 18:58

Your IT - Home IT

Open Source Industry Australia Limited (OSIA), an Australian open source industry body, has welcomed Microsoft's acceptance of the new open office file format, ODF (open document format). ODF will now be interoperable with the most widely implemented office suite in the country. However, OSIA cautions 'buyer beware'.

Microsoft has announced development of a conversion plugin for the next version of Office, rather than adding ODF as a default option for saving and opening documents. Conversion does not protect against data loss. OpenOffice.org, the major competitor to MS Office, already uses the OpenDocument Format as the default for saving documents.

"We're pleased to see Microsoft join us at the table, even if they're a little late for dinner," said Donna Benjamin, OSIA spokesperson.
"Remember they did much the same thing with the Internet, where they initially rejected the open standard and open source TCP/IP protocols and HTML document formats, only to do a U-turn and support them when they saw that that's where the industry was heading."

Despite previous statements condemning the XML based OpenDocument Format, Microsoft's move acknowledges that ODF is achieving universal support.

"Everyone involved in the creation of the ODF standard committed to a transparent specification that maximises accessibility now and into the future. As such, ODF is the only open standard XML document format available. By using ODF, users will avoid proprietary or legally-encumbered formats. Whilst Microsoft's document formats remain popular, there is no guarantee they will be accessible into the future," continued Benjamin.

Whilst this is a win for Open Standards, voices in the industry have already raised concerns that Microsoft's approach of creating 'optional plug-ins' is not an elegant solution, and will ultimately create confusion and lead to data loss.

Open standards in file formats mean that anyone can access the complete specification and implement software which can read and write ODF files.

OSIA recommends that agencies move to ODF, which has already been implemented in the OpenOffice.org Office suite and other Open Source productivity suites. OpenOffice.org is free software and can be downloaded now from http://www.openoffice.org/

As ODF is also the only document format recognised by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), OSIA encourages all Australian governments and businesses to heed Microsoft's move. "We must adopt the OpenDocument Format as the preferred method of document exchange today, and perhaps more importantly, for long-term storage of office documents tomorrow," concluded Benjamin.