lso in Italy we are discussing if the Office Open XML format (the XML format which replicates the working of MS Office 2007) is to be approved as an ISO standard (ISO/IEC DIS 29500), with a "fast track" procedure. For several reasons this would seem unacceptable. Many are indeed the unanswered questions on the standard.
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Novell Relishes Pact with Microsoft
RDN's Executive Editor, Features Jeffrey Schwartz talked about the Microsoft-Novell deal with Justin Steinman, Novell's director of product marketing for Linux and open platform solutions, at TecháEd. Steinman was involved in negotiating the terms of the deal and offers his insights on Microsoft's actions, the impact of the agreements on Linux development and more.
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Microsoft Strikes GPLv3 Software From Linspire Patent Deal
Microsoft says software that's licensed under GPLv3 isn't covered by the patent protection deal it recently signed with desktop Linux distributor Linspire.
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General Public License Version 3: A Legal View
This is an interesting article in which the author mentions differences between version 2 and 3 of the GPL. I think his assessment regarding DRM in item 7 is incorrect though. Please discuss.
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Support open standards in Europe
The campaign herein asks you to do 3 (three) actions :
1. sign the campaign herebelow for open standards by answering the IDABC request for comment before September 15, 2007
2. answer the request for comment of the European Commission request for comments on its websites, on CampaignECwebsites
3. ask your friends to do the same.
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DRM and open source are the great divide
If there is any word other than Microsoft which can get an argument going among open source advocates, it is DRM. (The t-shirt is available here.)DRM, Digital Rights Management, is generally found in the form of an encryption wrapper giving control of the content to a rights holder.
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The converter hoax
Just like the UK National Archives fell for the myth of better archival through MS-OOXML, which has been analysed in more depth in a recent followup article in the BBC Technology news, influential groups like Gartner have swallowed the converter claim hook, line and sinker.
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GPL: fear is the key
The third revision of the General Public Licence has been out for just short of three weeks but plenty of people are already questioning why take-up has been so slow.
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Open Legislation, Part 2: It's the People's Choice
"Laws go through all kinds of markups, changes and amendments," said Peter Leyden, director of the New Politics Institute. "The process has evolved from making those changes on parchment to at least using word-processing documents, but it's not that big a step to think of moving to the next generation of tools and crafting a whole piece of legislation on a wiki."
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A Patent Is Worth Having, Right? Well, Maybe Not
PATENTS are supposed to give inventors an incentive to create things that spur economic growth. For some companies, especially in the pharmaceutical business, patents do just that by allowing them to pull in billions in profits from brand-name, blockbuster drugs. But for most public companies, patents don’t pay off, say a couple of researchers who have crunched the numbers.
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OOXML Fails to Gain Approval in US
On Friday July 13th, INCITS V1 met via teleconference for 3 hours but failed to reach a 2/3 consensus necessary to recommend an "Approval, with comments" position on Microsoft "Office Open XML" (OOXML) document specification.
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An Overview: Where Things Stand in IBM, Novell, and Red Hat
I thought it would be useful, judging from some recent confusion in the media, to highlight the latest goings on in all the ongoing cases in the SCO saga all on one page, so everyone can follow the bouncing ball. That will mean some slight repetition for some of us, but it also will make it easier for those who don't follow the SCO saga as intently as we do to grasp the current picture.
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Open Source Resolution Passed -- California Democratic Party Executive Board
Dear Friends of Open Voting, this is Great News and more evidence that the Open Voting idea is catching on. Thanks especially to Tom Gangale for pushing this forward!
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GPLv3: The pace (and plot) thickens
One week after Palamida reported a rather sluggish start to GPLv3 adoption, we're up 41% and growing quickly. This could represent 10% of all active open source projets.
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About Massachusetts... Updated
"You know how I always tell you when I make a mistake? Well, it looks like I made one when I told you that I didn't think Massachusetts would care what you said in any emails about Microsoft's OfficeOpen XML specification (now Ecma 376) being proposed as an addition to their list of usable "open standards". I'm hearing that they are reading the emails and will take them seriously."
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