SC34, possible right-hand Microsoft lapdog and current ISO/IEC committee responsible for OOXML, appears to be trying for a takeover of ODF as a standard. Yes, I know, it’s madness. But apparently, the fact that the whole world knows that ISO is now useless, has escaped the SC34 guys completely. They’re indicating that they would like to take over ‘maintenance’ of the JTC1 spec ( ODF ) in the interest of synchronisation of maintenance. And it’s called: “Request to JTC 1 for alignment of OASIS and JTC 1 Maintenance Procedures.” Yep, you read that right, alignment!!!
I believe they think that they can do a better job than OASIS on managing the ODF spec. Considering that us mere mortals can’t even put forward a defect report regarding OOXML ( only member bodies can do this ), what will be the outcome W.R.T ODF then? There is already a technical committee set up to handle tech issues for ODF so why do ISO think they now need to get involved. Well maybe it’s because if they have control over ODF, they can then quietly shove it aside or let it fall to pieces. Surely this is Microsoft at their absolute best. EU Commission on anti-competitive behavior – you watching?
