“Microsoft published the OOXML file format specs for its Office apps,” Gruber explains. “And not only did they publish the specs, they submitted them to a widely-respected industry standards organization, and now they’re ISO standards.”
Gruber writes, “Adobe’s Flash specs have never been submitted to a standards body, let alone accepted, thus, anyone who argues that Adobe Flash is open would agree that Microsoft Office is even more open.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “jax44” for the heads up.]
@ acid
“Gruber’s take is rather satirical, but not quite there. It actually gives Adobe a way forward – submit their specs to some anti-Apple industry consortium in a bid to become a *standard*. “
They don’t need to. Microsoft had to.
Organizations — in particular gov, public bodies — were starting to wise-up to a situation where one vendor (MS) had lock-in via its formats. The danger for MS was that governments would mandate that all public documents be in an open, standards-body certified format. (One big advantage theres would be that purchase for the software to read/write it can then go out to competitive tender.)
“Proposed legislation that would mandate the use of the Open Document Format (ODF) across the entire Dutch government has infuriated Microsoft”
http://www.macworld.com/article/61414/2007/12/dutch.html
If MS could get its formats certified by a standards body (whether they were really open or not and whether or not anyone else could really write an independent implementation) then they could stave off that situation to some extent. Purchasing departments could check the “have bought software that uses a standards-body certified format” box.
Gruber’s comment was actually very astute. You have to know what he left unsaid to appreciate the point. And that’s this. MS has approval for OOXML from ISO. Yet even so everyone knows that OOXML is hardly in truth open. See, for example:
http://www.robweir.com/blog/2009/11/asking-right-questions-about-office.html
So you have to ask yourself: “If even ISO standardization doesn’t, in practice, count for much, what’s does having published a few specifications count for?”
The only credible answer is: “Not much”.
Adobe’s claim that Flash is “open” because they’ve published its specs isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
Clever boy, Gruber.
I find it quite interesting to see how many people don’t get the point Gruber is making. He’s using Microsoft Office as an example of something that is demonstrably more “open” than flash in that it is a standard. Very few people would ever use Microsoft Office as an example of something that is “open” though. Accordingly, if Flash isn’t even as “open” as something else that itself isn’t what people would define as truly open, it doesn’t really do much for Adobe’s argument that Flash is open.
Gruber isn’t saying that Office is open, in fact the opposite, but that just goes to illustrate how closed Flash is in comparison.
If Office is open it’s because there is a key to it’s locked door, Flash is more akin to a bricked up opening. Or Something.
@M.X.N.T.4.1.
Thank you.
Gruber’s article was dripping with sarcasm and he was clever to juxtapose M$ and Adob¢.
I just reinstalled windows 98 on an old machine and when I try to install adobe flash player Im told it is no longer supported. When I try to view certain things it tells me to install the flash and java to view them. How do I view them? Is there an alternative to the adobe flash player that works on windows 98
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/acai-berry-trim-amp-detox-review-don039t-buy-until-you-read-this-review-2091904.html
Once you are on that page, click the button that says “Agree & Install Now.” Then follow the instructions, remembering to choose the affirmative action when prompted for a response.
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/cho-yung-tea-review-where-to-buy-cho-yung-tea-2203061.html