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

[Richard Stallman <rms gnu org>]

You said:

    >     OOXML is going to be the defacto standard whether we like it or not.

"The" defacto standard implies there is only one, and the sentence
says it is not ODF.

      It is only by forcing that dichotomy that we set
    ourselves up for problems when MS eventually gets OOX through ISO.

Both of those statements are defeatist predictions about resistance to
ISO approval of OOXML.

Defeatist predictions hurt our cause, because they can act as
self-fulfilling prophesies.  That's why "You can't win, so don't try
to resist" is a standard form of propaganda for aggressors.  If we
believe those claims, we may make less effort to resist, and that can
turn victory into defeat.

Nobody really knows the future, so any statement about what ISO will
decide is speculation.  Would you please refrain from asserting that
we will lose?