This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Janek Schwarz. Original Post: About the Uselessness of OpenDocument Feed Title: The Wannabe Java Rockstar Feed URL: http://weblog.janek.org/Archive/Categories/javablogs.rss.xml Feed Description: The Wannabe Java Rockstar: Janek's weblog where all posts go to Eleven Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Janek Schwarz Latest Posts From The Wannabe Java Rockstar

OpenDocument is a waste of time and money. At least if you believe Dave Winer, who wrote about Microsoft's new XML-based file format for Word:

One would think that [the new format] would spawn an explosion of new products designed to please Office users but that's not what's happening. A group of large technology companies is proposing a competing set of formats, and has formed an alliance to confuse the market, and at least double the work of any developer who might want to support their products (with almost no installed base) alongside Microsoft's (with a monopolistic dominant installed base).

Unfortunately, Dave got the facts wrong. According to Wikipedia, the standardization of OpenDocument at OASIS started in 2002. It was decided to build on an earlier version of the OpenOffice.org format, which was already in XML and had been in use since 2000.

At this time, nobody at Microsoft talked about the XMLification of the DOC format. So one could argue that OpenOffice.org's file format together with the standardization process at OASIS actually forced Microsoft to develop the XML-based file format we'll see in Office 12.

Who knows, maybe that's OpenDocument's only success. In any case, it is not a waste of time or money.