Re: Regarding OOXML and Microsoft patents

[Rui Miguel Silva Seabra <rms 1407 org>]

Hi,

It is my non-lawyer point of view that the Microsoft OSP is absolutely
irrelevant and that in the soon to be EU law may actually be a complete
red herring, since it may soon be the case that you don't have to be the
owner of patents to make the authorites do the enforcement.

Also, why do you say the format is open? Can you tell me how Word95 does
auto-space? Please don't tell me about a ruler to measure on-screen
spacement like the Microsoft expert did in the portuguese Technical
Commission.

Rui

On Fri, Jul 20, 2007 at 11:07:16AM -0400, Kevin Kubasik wrote:
> If I may, I have been following this thread quite close, as I don't know how I personally feel about the OOXML standard yet. On one hand, the format is open, and much easier to implement (to the point that most users will never really notice compatibility issues) than the original binary document format. On the other hand, the attempt seems a little half hearted, and as an Open Software advocate, I can only trust Microsoft so much.
> 
> That being said, I think both of you are starting to degrade your arguments a bit, as you both just keep asking the other to provide proof of points, to which the responses are even more terse and less useful. I love a good debate, and think that the Gnome Foundation is a leader in the free software community, and its position will/could/can influence people. It is in this spirit that I ask not only that this debate continue, but it continue in a productive and useful manor.
> 
> I am not saying this debate has reached the 'empty' or 'troll' level, far from it, but I have always had a hard time sifting through the mix of PR, omitted truths, and sometimes outright lies of this debate (on a larger scale) and this discussion has proved to be very revealing of the truth of OOXML.
> 
> Cheers,
> Kevin Kubasik
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: foundation-list-bounces gnome org [mailto:foundation-list-bounces gnome org] On Behalf Of Richard Stallman
> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 9:43 AM
> To: Miguel de Icaza
> Cc: foundation-list gnome org
> Subject: Re: Regarding OOXML and Microsoft patents
> 
>     Instead of using an ad-hominem attack, you could point us why Larry
>     Rosen is wrong and you are right, his credentials seem pretty solid to
>     me:
> 
> Larry Rosen persistently spreads misinformation about the GNU GPL and
> what it implies for linking with non-free software.  We cannot treat
> him as a reliable authority.  He has his own agenda.
> 
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