More Massachusetts Materializations

ConsortiumInfo: IBM Weighs in Behind ODF in MA

"While there certainly has been little reason to doubt where IBM stands on ODF, it was reassuring to see it pledge its support today in a letter delivered to Massachusetts Secretary of Executive Agency Finance and Administration Thomas Trimarco. The letter is signed by IBM's VP of Standards and Open Source, Dr. Robert Sutor (it was Bob, you may recall, who hosted the Armonk Meeting back on November 4.

"Bob's letter doesn't hesitate to establish IBM's right to make its opinion heard..."

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eWeek: Microsoft Drops the Office Open Standard Ball

"Microsoft Corp.'s open-standard Office XML format announcement may have proved to be a dud.

"When Microsoft announced a week ago Monday that it had decided to open up its Office 12 XML file formats and had submitted the formats to be considered as a formal open standard by ECMA International, Alan Yates, the general manager of Microsoft's Information Worker Strategy, said, 'The new license that will accompany the Open XML format with the standards organization will go well beyond traditional standards licensing and will be very positive for the vast majority of developers, even open-source developers...'"

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Related Stories:

• LinuxWorld Australia: Sun Urges Massachusetts to Reject Open XML(Nov 29, 2005)
• ZDNet: Top Open Source Lawyer Blesses New Terms on Microsoft's XML File Format(Nov 28, 2005)
• Massachusetts Political Battle Gets Ugly(Nov 28, 2005)