Where do I sign a counter petition?

There is a perfectly good _OPEN_ document standard, why should I want a Microsoft inspired bit of patent encumbered vendor lock in instead?

In any case, seeing as Microsoft are hosting the petition, why should we believe what ever numbers they come up with?

My thoughts exactly.

All "Open" XML will do is help Microsoft force OO.o and other competing office suites out of the market.

Just sign Microsoft's.

Mouse, M.

Duck, D.

Regina, V.

Caesar, J.

Cicero, M.T.

Lincoln, A.

Washington, G.

All good names to sign under. After all, this is an online petitione. People would think it was fishy if it didn't have lots of Mickey Mouse signatures.

ECMA hasn't been the "European Computer Manufacturers' Association" since 1994!

Get a grip.

Asking the UK government to adopt the genuinely Open Document Format instead. It's at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OpenDocument/

Don't bother with M Mouse, etc.

Use Nick McGrath, Director of Platform Strategy, Microsoft Ltd after all, it'll be mostly Microsoft employees who sign the petition anyway!

'co-insides'?

Oh yes, Microsoft.

Isn't that the company that believes so strongly in standards that whenever it comes across one, it tries its best to invent another one of its own?

It's bad enough that we still have to put up with websites that only work in non-standard microsoft browsers. The absolute last thing we need is yet more microsoft non-standards.

I wrote to the UK representative (BSI Chair) and asked them specifically to object to the fast tracking application as a blatant and absurd abuse of the system. I also asked that they refuse the whole application on the grounds that it sucks - though not in those words !

The document is 6000 pages, yes a whole SIX THOUSAND pages, which means that as was pointed out, someone would have to read and digest 200 pages/day to review it in the 30 days allowed for the fast track process.

It wouldn't be too bad if it was actually a decent standard, but it's yet another of those non-standard-standards things that would allow Microsoft to tick the "standards compliant" box whilst actually providing a grand total of ZERO interoperability. For example, the standard allows for objects to be included which are defined as "the format handled by program X" (for example Word 95) - and since the formats are proprietry and closed, it means that an "open" document is no more open than any of the previous closed docuemnt formats, it simply wraps up a proprietry format in an open wrapper.

Then there's the page stuffing stupid things like ... There is an ISO standard for country and language codes, so Microsoft ignore it and create their own. There is an ISO standard for dates and times, so Microsoft ignore it and create their own. What is worse, the standard mandates the faulty implementation of leap years so as to maintain backwards bug compatibility with that old Excel bug !

No, there is very little going for this standard, it is nothing more than a blatant attempt to maintain the current situation of proprietry formats and vendor locking - but with the added bonus of "ticking the standards boxes".

If you want a point by point breakdown of what's wrong with it, try http://www.grokdoc.net/index.php/EOOXML_objections

Hmmmmm ....

I've been reading El Reg regularly for some time (years) now, and it always surprises me how many people moan about MS doing this, that or the other, and then do precisely nothing to change the situation.

It really is very simple - don't give MS your money, change your system, use something else. If there is a general ignoring of MS and their attempts at world domination, they will go away (no money = no business = no problem)

And don't tell me there aren't any alternatives because there are lots (hell, I haven't touched anything by MS in over 5 years, and my life is just sooooo easy ....) - get off your fat arse & go and have a look, you'll be surprised.

Petitions are for politicians (makes 'em feel important, y'know)

Go your own way, instead of following the rest of the sheep, & you will have a happy life.

As well as

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OpenDocument/

You might as well vote for

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/opendoc/

as well. No I don't know why there are two.

Here's the real counterpetition.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/music_holocaust/

Forget document formats, they're trying to patent music distribution itself.

As a conspiracy theorist, I assume there are two petitions in order to halve the number of opposition signatures people have to quote in the press releases...