ISO Releases OOXML FAQ

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The ISO has put out a FAQ concerning OOXML, but it may raise more questions than it answers. For one, it promises to address problems if they arise in the future. PJ of Groklaw said that's akin to 'selling you a car with four different sizes of tires and assuring that that if you see it's a problem, you can always bring it in for maintenance.' It also handwaves the OSP discriminatory patent promise issues, when asked about contradictions states that some 'may still remain', and asserts that duplicate standards are 'something that need[s] to be decided by the market place.' Notably, the FAQ does not answer the question, 'what the hell were you thinking?'"

Re:What the hell were they thinking?

[zippthorne]

What I don't get is why mass is quantified in pounds and not slugs [wikipedia.org].

Pounds-mass predates slugs. Of course it helps that the concept of "pounds" also predates the concept of a distinction between weight and mass.

And why don't metric-using folks quantify their weight in newtons?

Because people don't measure their weight. They measure their mass. How much that mass happens to weigh at sea level or somesuch is unimportant, since it's the total quantity of matter that composes you that is the health concern.

But what is curious is that metric-users do use the idea of "kgs force" for things that are force measurements, when a perfectly acceptable newton already exists.

The market speaks!

[toriver]

ODF: 5+ applications can write the format.
OOXML: Zero applications can write the format.

ODF Wins!

Re:What the hell were they thinking?

[Akita24]

As is a bigoted, insensitive, shallow asshole.

Re:Isn't the whole idea of a standard

[jsebrech]

How was Microsoft supposed to implement this standard in their own products before it was a standard? Once it went into the standards committee a bunch of changes were made - how could those changes have been anticipated.

The intial version they submitted already wasn't compatible with what office implements.

Re:They're not idiots

[jsebrech]

I've seen many articles that discredit OOXML that have raised specific verifiable issues. What verifiable evidence of your claims do you offer?

Re:I wonder...

[droopycom]

ISO is normally paid in CHF.

Look for ISO 4217 if you dont know what CHF is....

Re:What the hell were they thinking?

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

you're doing it wrong. first you need to compare your mass to a reference using a balance scale, THEN you use a spring scale to measure the weight force (in newtons) your body produces. with the two values at hand, you divide your weight by your mass, and the result should be 9.8

using only a spring scale in your bathroom simply won't tell you anything, unless you calibrate it everyday with copy of the international prototype kilogram (IPK).

man, this is the second time in less than a week that i post something absolutelly pedantic... should i start to worry ?

Re:Isn't the whole idea of a standard

[mpeskett]

nothing but Office 2007 can open it

There is a "compatibility pack" for Office '03. Haven't had the opportunity to test whether it works with all the features but it does allow you to open .docx without Office '07