Game over for OpenDocument?

The quest for OpenDocument gets grounded by the hard realities of Microsoft Office-bound business processes. What's next for enterprise users who really want document interoperability?

By Gary Edwards and Buck "Marbux" Martin, LinuxWorld.com, 07/23/07

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Is it game over for OpenDocument? Probably. We've been expecting Massachusetts ITD to publicly revise its open formats mandate to include Office Open XML (OOXML) ever since Louis Gutierrez resigned as CIO in early October 2006. That was as clear a signal that ODF had failed in Massachusetts as needed by anyone in the know.

The only surprise is that it took new ITD CIO Bethann Pepoli so long to make the announcement that OOXML would be officially recognized as an "open" XML file format going forward. How she determined OOXML is open when the Microsoft Open Specification Promise allows no other developer to implement it is a mystery, but it seems a safe bet that the decision was based on political and practical considerations rather than sound legal advice about OOXML's qualification as an open standard. See definitions ostensibly used by Massachusetts ITD to define openness in its ETRM:

Open Standard - Specifications for systems that are publicly available and are developed by an open community and affirmed by a standards body. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is an example of an open standard. Open standards imply that multiple vendors can compete directly based on the features and performance of their products. It also implies that the existing information technology solution is portable and that it can be removed and replaced with that of another vendor with minimal effort and without major interruption. (Enterprise Open Standards Policy)

Open Format - The Commonwealth defines open formats as specifications for data file formats that are based on an underlying open standard, developed by an open community, affirmed and maintained by a standards body and are fully documented and publicly available. (ETRM, Information Domain)

According to a Network World story, "Pepoli said the state needs to pick up the pace in adopting XML-based formats and we think now that 'to have both formats will make it easier.'"

But Pepoli said adoption of Open XML is not a done deal."Someone could submit a comment and we could make a review of ETRM and make changes," she said. Those changes could include eliminating Open XML from ETRM in the final draft.

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