On Merging

One much advertised part of the answer made by the Afnorwas the proposal to merge OOXML and ODF.

I always thought that it was a great idea, because it sounds to me as a realistic way out to settle the dual standards conundrum. This concrete solution is also workable in a transparent and standard way: The OASIS and the Ecma should both initiate the project. This scenario is already planned and explained in the procedure of the JTC-1.

There are however some issues that need to be overcome first: they could be discussed at the BRM but I just don’t think there would be enough time for this. According to the French proposal, OOXML would first be split into two, OOXML-Core and OOXML-Extensions. The Core part would contain the essential elements of the OOXML spec, while the extensions would be taken out of the standardization work, as it would carry all the unnecessary, problematic and the so-called deprecated parts of the specification. The issue however, is to define in a consensual way what could form the Core part, and that is, I think not an easy work at all. There are too much politics involved in this, and the technical work itself is extremely difficult as one would need to have a strong granularity while parsing out the specification. Microsoft’s late attempt to propose that the VML part be taken out is clearly not enough.

Below you will find a schema inspired from the Afnor’s proposal and showing the roadmap of such a merger. I believe that with some good will from the Ecma and Microsoft this could be feasible.

Another interesting “merger”, so to speak, is the announcement that IBM is effectively joining the OpenOffice.org community. I think it’s some great news for OpenOffice.org and IBM. This means more resources, more skills, and more stability for our project. It also means shows clearly that OpenOffice.org is a really open community, where many entities and individuals can contribute. I would thus like to welcome IBM and congratulate them for this excellent choice. We’re looking forward working with you!

NB to the conspiracy theorists: This blog does not reflect the views of the High Command Center of the Anti-Microsoft and Anti-American Conspiracy Group. Since you cunningly located us (we, the conspirators, sometimes referred as the Illuminati) somewhere in Europe, we will be moving soon. We’ll be going somewhere in Africa. No, I won’t tell you where. It’s top secret. Mark Shuttleworth is not involved in this plot. I swear, Ptew, Ptew.