PlexNex

ODF Alliance Newsletter

The June 28, 2007, issue of the ODF Alliance Newsletter just went live in PDF.

Paints a picture of powerful momentum for the universal document format and gives links to some interesting bedside reading on the weaknesses of ODF's nemesis, OOXML.

ODF Alliance Membership List

ODF Alliance membership passed 300 in recent months, not 9 months from the start of the lobbying and communications group. An analysis of the mix would indicate the proportion of ICT vendors, professional services providers, software development groups and end user agencies and organizations.

These are people with a view toward supporting ODF in software or establishing ODF policies or moving forward on migration. They may be entities who are already using OpenOffice.org -- and thereby ODF -- already. They are united by a confidence in a singular idea: common sense will prevail in the electronic document standards fight.

There are 50 countries represented in the list (and all continents but Antarctica).

1	.riess applications gmbh
2	1dok.org
3	2shape GmbH
4	3BView Ltd
5	60AT6
6	Abshoff, Agricola, Prager & Venn GbR - freaque.net
7	Adullact
8	Advanced Information and Communication Technology
9	Aero Systems Corp.
10	AFUL
11	agelis Energieberatung
12	Alfresco
13	Alka France
14	All Stars s.r.o.
15	All Stars Sp. z o.o.
16	Alma Technology
17	Altar sp. z o.o.
18	American Library Association
19	Amphora Research Systems
20	Anaska Formation
21	APITUX
22	APPS Global Pty Ltd
23	APRIL
24	Ark Linux
25	ARKNUS
26	Ars Aperta
27	Asia OSPA Forum
28	Asociación Mexicana Empresarial de Software Libre
29	ASS2L
30	Association Lune Rouge
31	Associazione Culturale Revolutionary Mind
32	ATR, Inc.
33	Atviras kodas Lietuvai
34	Auton Rijnsburg BV
35	Avanquest UK ltd
36	Axiros GmbH
37	Bangladesh Linux Users Alliance
38	Beijing Co-Create Open Source Software Co.,Ltd.
39	Beijing Jiaotong University
40	Beijing Redflag CH2000 Software Co., Ltd
41	BellCom Open Source A/S
42	Bicocca.NET
43	BiZwiKi.CN
44	Blue Ferret Communications
45	Bristol City Council
46	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
47	BrOffice.org
48	BsOOo.Nl - Business Support OpenOffice.org Nederla
49	Bull
50	Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing
51	Caixa Mágica Software
52	CELEPAR
53	Center for System Administration
54	Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
55	Centrum Tlumaczen Specjalistycznych
56	ChannelWeb S.r.l.
57	China Standard Software Co.,Ltd. (CS2C)
58	ChinaSoft Resource Corporation
59	CIGNEX Technologies, Inc.
60	City of Bloomington
61	City of Largo
62	City of Vienna - ICT
63	Clark Marketing Ltd
64	Coeusoft SA
65	Cognitran Ltd.
66	Compro Computer Services, Inc.
67	CompUnite South Africa
68	Computer & Communications Industry Association
69	Comsultia, Ltd.
70	consultores GmbH
71	Corel
72	Corrilan IT Consultancy Ltd
73	COSPA
74	COSS - The Finnish Centre for Open Source Software
75	Cowichan Valley Linux Users Group
76	CSW Group Ltd.
77	CulTrim
78	Dagda Team
79	Danish Open Source Society (DOSS)
80	De Bortoli Wines Pty Limited
81	Deep Vision, Inc.
82	Den danske UNIX-systembrugergruppe, DKUUG
83	Development InfoStructure (Devis)
84	DIDASCA - The First Italian Cyber Schools for Life
85	DigiUtopikA Lda.
86	DLPS Desktop Linux Projects and Services GmbH
87	Docvert
88	Dougan Consulting Group
89	dri - consultoria informática LDA
90	DynaWerx Inc.
91	e:volve computers & technology
92	EasyLink Services Corporation
93	Economie Numérique Conseil
94	EDL Systems
95	EDS
96	Egressive Limited
97	Elevated Technology
98	EMC Corporation
99	Endoc AB
100	enomaly
101	Essential Information
102	European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS
103	EXÉRCITO BRASILEIRO
104	Exinit
105	eZ systems as
106	FEB Radebeul
107	Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure
108	Free and Open Source Software Foundation of Pakist
109	Free Software Macedonia
110	Free Standards Group
111	Freedows Consortium Tecnologia S.A.
112	Friends of OpenDocument, Inc.
113	Fullmoon Software
114	Fusebox Inc
115	Gardien Virtuel
116	GENICORP
117	Genii Software Ltd.
118	Geseidl Euro Finance Consulting SRL
119	GIAHSA
120	GNOME
121	Golden Planet
122	Google Inc
123	Gordon College
124	Green Banana, Inc.
125	Haselfre Solutions
126	HDSI
127	Humanetrix Foundation Inc.
128	i2rs
129	IBM
130	iDPARC AG
131	IFILP-TEC — Área Técnica do Instituto de Forma
132	iHorizons
133	Illuminance Technologies
134	Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
135	Indy Associates
136	Informatica.Com.Md
137	Infra-Resource, Ltd.
138	Infrae
139	Institute for Information Industry
140	Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences
141	Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia da Informação
142	Integra Soluciones Avanzadas, S.L.
143	Internet Society Netherlands
144	Internet Vision Technologies
145	Interunix Networking Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia
146	Intraneia - Sistemas de Informação, Lda.
147	IP Justice
148	IT-Politisk Forening, IT-POL
149	itemis GmbH & Co. KG
150	ITIJ
151	iZone Development
152	Izy CG, s.r.o.
153	Jamma IT
154	Jena Technologies LLC
155	JM Field Marketing
156	Junta de Andalucía
157	Junta de Extremadura - CIDT
158	Justsystem Corporation
159	KDE
160	KLID - Linux trade association of Denmark
161	Kreawit
162	Kyrgyzstan National Information Technology Center
163	Leonardo Communications
164	Liberix
165	LINAGORA
166	Linda Hall Library
167	Linpro AS
168	Linux Australia
169	Linux Industrial Association (LIPSZ) - Hungary
170	Linux Users Group Belgrade
171	Linux Users Group, Singapore
172	linuxNUS - National University of Singapore Linux
173	Local Government Computer Services Board
174	Login, Inc.
175	LUGOS (Linux User Group Of Slovenia)
176	LynuxSolutions
177	Magnate IT
178	Mandriva
179	Mark Watson Consulting Services
180	Massachusetts High Technology Council
181	Massachusetts Network Communications Council
182	Mediasoft Solutions Private Limited
183	Metztli Information Technology
184	MIG AB
185	MIKFF
186	Ministry of Finance -- Republic of Macedonia
187	MNCC ODF Special Interest Group, Malaysia
188	MNCC Open Source Special Interest Group
189	MobilityGuard AB
190	Mountain Linux Users Group
191	Movimento Software Livre Paraná - MSLPR
192	MultiRacio
193	MySQL AB
194	National Institute for Smart Government
195	NC LUG - North Caucasus Linux User Group
196	ncode solutions gmbh
197	Nebtrex
198	Nederlandse Linux Gebuikers Groep
199	Neosystems
200	Neutech.dk
201	Nimble Services, Inc
202	Nitin Goyal
203	Norfello Oy
204	Norwegian Mission Alliance Philippines
205	Notes CS
206	Nou&Off
207	NovaGlobal Pte Ltd
208	Novell
209	NOVOVIA
210	Nowe Leki
211	Nuxeo / inDesko
212	O3spaces
213	Odendahl SEPT-Solutions
214	Open Design Alliance
215	Open Enterprise Solutions
216	Open Interoperative Document Initiative
217	Open Legal Practice Standards Collaboration Org
218	Open Office Technology, Inc.
219	Open Society Archives of the Central European Univ
220	Open Society Institute
221	Open Source Industry Australia
222	Open Source Law
223	Open Systems Management Ltd.
224	Open-Xchange, Inc.
225	Open@work
226	OpenAdvantage
227	OpenApp
228	OpenContent s.n.c.
229	OpenDocument Fellowship
230	OpenForum Europe
231	OpenIreland
232	OpenLX (Indserve Infotech Pvt. Ltd.)
233	OpenOffice Polska
234	OpenOffice.org
235	OpenOffice.org MEXICO
236	Openpower Information Co.,ltd
237	OpenSesame ICT
238	OpenSkills
239	OPENTIA
240	Opera Software ASA
241	OPS! Consulting
242	Optaros
243	Optio Software, Inc.
244	Oracle
245	Orion eServices Private Ltd
246	OSDL (Open Source Development Lab)
247	OSS Alliance
248	OSS Integral Institute Co., Ltd. ( OSSII )
249	Oxford Archaeology
250	Østjyllands Linux-brugergruppe
251	Paradigma
252	Parinux
253	Paul Snijders Automatisering
254	PersonnelWorks, LLC
255	phpMyAdmin
256	Pilot Systems
257	Pixart SRL
258	Planeta Olea SL
259	Powiatowy Urzad Pracy w Brzesku
260	PRESTO - PŘEKLADATELSKÉ CENTRUM s.r.o.
261	Prezencia Web Services
262	Prodigentia
263	Project Kalpa
264	Propylon Ltd
265	PSIL
266	Public Knowledge
267	Puzzle ITC
268	QCM, s.r.o.
269	Qindel
270	QubeConnect Sdn Bhd
271	Radio Popular, Electrodomesticos, S. A.
272	Red Hat, Inc.
273	Redlaunch
274	Relational Semantics, Inc.
275	Reliable Information Systems
276	Resolvo Systems PTE Ltd
277	Rixstep.com
278	Ruffdogs, Inc.
279	SafeDesk
280	SalePlane Ltd.
281	Saturn Laboratories
282	SCIDERALLE
283	SeeOpen
284	Servizi Informatici
285	Skaitmeninio sertifikavimo centras, UAB
286	Skåne Sjælland Linux User Group, SSLUG
287	SKOSI (Slovak Open Source Initiative)
288	sn@p consulting
289	SoftMaker
290	Software & Information Industry Association SIIA
291	Software AG
292	Software Competence Center of the Hungarian Govern
293	Software602
294	Southwest Jiaotong University
295	Sp-Process SPA
296	Sploodle
297	Spoleènost pro výzkum a podporu (Open SourceOSS
298	Squirrel Consultancy
299	StarXpert
300	Sun Microsystems, Inc.
301	Sustainable Software Pty Ltd
302	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
303	Szabad Szoftver Intézet - Hungary
304	Tankeboks
305	tarent GmbH
306	Technetra Corporation
307	Technical University of Denmark - Copenhagen
308	TESI Tècnica del So i la Imatge S.L.
309	Tetra Information Services Pvt. Ltd
310	Thales
311	The Association of Open Source Suppliers and Vendo
312	The ICT & Security Company (ICTSC LTD)
313	The Knowledge Trust
314	The New Zealand Open Source Society
315	The Open Source Technology Alliance
316	The OpenDocument Foundation, Inc.
317	Torchlight Technologies
318	TorLUG - Tor Vergata Linux User Group
319	Transtronics, Inc.
320	Tuxum Secure Systems
321	Tycho Softworks
322	uberOffice, Inc.
323	Ubiquitech
324	UNDP-APDIP International Open Source Network
325	Unisys Corporation
326	University of the Philippines Java Research & Deve
327	Uptime Computing
328	USARSD.org
329	Ux Systems
330	Vacorama.com
331	Vadesta B.V.
332	Van Bussel Document Services
333	Varico
334	VersusMind
335	Victoria Linux Users Group (VLUG)
336	Virtual Angle B.V.
337	VNOSS
338	Warpspace IT
339	Workmode, Inc.
340	Worldlabel.com Inc.
341	Woven Thorns Productions
342	Wyona
343	YACME Srl
344	Zindep

Microsoft: a Question of Air Supply

...their own.

The excellent John Markoff in The New York Times wrote yesterday about Google's Eric Schmidt going on the Apple Computer Board of Directors and made no subtlety of the Silicon Valley vs. Redmond theme.

Given the recent enterprise product announcements from Google and the move to Intel chips by Mac which support Windows as well as OS X, the squeeze is being applied overtly on the Monopolist from the two most significant & influential desktop computing companies. (This is really what Steve Ballmer was throwing chairs about back when Google was hiring the talented Microsoft doers: it was likely the dull Ballmer's first recognition that competitors were deliberately acting to both promote their own plans while interfering with his ability to operate.)

I add the world's attack via ODF on Microsoft's document file formats as a significant third factor which is presently increasing the blood pressure in Redmond and will be taking the state, municipal and key federal accounts in all countries away.

Next, we may be able to rely upon an attack on MrSofty stock from the more clueful sectors of Private Equity. The FT was laughably floating the Microsoft LBO meme last week, which to me indicates not only that greed is at an apex in Greenwich, Connecticut, but that hedge funds are running out of roadkill. The smart money will see that a) Microsoft is in a different competitive environment now, one pitted directly against them -- enlivened by the personal animus of people who's careers were adversely affected by Bill Gates' psychopathic anti-competitive business lust (or those from Bell Labs or Stanford who feel a personal responsibility to take computing back from a dishonest company); and b) customers are quite fed up with the status quo, and they have alternatives emerging.

In addition, Microsoft can't seem to help itself: Vista requires now more hardware, when the rest of the world is calling for less. And their new file format -- MSECMAXML -- is predicated on more and deeper ties (as in illegal monoplistic Tying) to Microsoft-only applications and platforms than ever before rather than less. One would be accurate to say that Microsoft is swimming against the current.

OpenDocument Achieves ISO Approval, Leaps Procurement Hurdle

The OpenDocument Format ("ODF") was approved for adoption (PDF) as a standard by the International Standards Organization ("ISO"). The six-month balloting period for ISO member organizations ended May 1st with the affirmative vote.

This means ODF, and ODF-capable software tools for the desktop (including OpenOffice, StarOffice, Lotus Workplace, KOffice and other Open Source & Free as well as commercial office suites), are likely to experience accelerated adoption this year in the government sectors of many countries, where ISO ratification is a precondition or strong requirement for procurement.

Said Marino Marcich, Executive Director of the ODF Alliance,

"[We intend] to build on this successful vote by working with governments around the world to adopt the OpenDocument Format. We believe access to public records and essential services should never be restricted to users of a particular brand of software or computer platform."

ODF Alliance: Jellin'

I place the ODF Alliance somewhere between a snowball and a firestorm. The OpenDocument Format Alliance, which formed last month with approximately 35 members now has over 130 members.

ODF adopters who are not on this list but who might be politely encouraged to sign up include:

• The French National Tax Authority
• The French Police
• The City of Vienna, Austria
• The City of Mannheim, Germany
• The City of Bergen, Norway
• The German Ministry of the Interior
• Earnie Ball Strings
• South Korean Schools
• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Judiciary
• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive
• Telstra
• The Municipality of Schwaebish-Hall Germany
• and any number of of Novell's and Sun's customers who might not be afraid of the publicity (Novell Linux and StarOffice)

Any other organizations who support the goals of the Alliance -- to help encourage governments to recognize the benefits of open-standard formats for creating and accessing office documents -- should duly feel free to join up.