Re: OOXML [was Re: GNOME Foundation Board Meeting Minutes :: 7/6/07]

[Richard Stallman <rms gnu org>]

    OOXML is going to be the defacto standard whether we like it or not.
    To pretend otherwise is to deny that the sun will rise in the East
    tomorrow.

Please don't be defeatist!

We can and should try to make free software read OOXML, because that will be
a useful feature -- but that doesn't require defeatism about ODF.

    3) acknowledge it and at least attempt to make it suck less for
    reimplementers, but use our presence there to highlight Microsoft's
    abusive, convicted monopolistic tendencies.

    I'm very disappointed that we're currently headed towards #2, which,
    IMHO, is probably worse than #1. But it shouldn't be that hard to push
    towards #3- which really is the least bad of all the options.

#3 is basically right, but it suffices to acknowledge that OOXML is
used by many users.  There is no need to concede the battle to limit
its adoption.