ODF group abandons file format in favor of W3C alternative
OpenDocument Foundation claims that its namesake format isn't so open after all — A group that was set up to promote the Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF) is abandoning its support of that file format in favor …
Context & Ripple Effects
The OpenDocument Foundation was set up to promote ODF, and its defection lands at a delicate moment for the open-formats camp. Earlier in 2007, ODF looked like a genuine procurement threat to Microsoft, with adoption growing across US state governments, and in September ISO voted to reject OOXML as a standard (ISO rejects Microsoft's OOXML), leaving ODF as the presumptive beneficiary.
That makes this week's break unusual: rather than a Microsoft-aligned attack on ODF, it comes from inside — the group bearing the format's own name now argues ODF is not as open as purported and has shifted its backing to a W3C alternative. The claim is confirmed in the reporting, though no syndicated pickups or public discussion threads surfaced around the announcement, so the story's reach so far rests on Computerworld's account.
First-order effects
- Microsoft and other OOXML backers gain a ready-made talking point from an unexpected source: an ODF-promoting body publicly questioning whether the format lives up to its open label, just weeks after ISO's OOXML rebuff.
- Government agencies that adopted or were moving toward ODF mandates — the constituency behind the format's 2007 momentum — face fresh questions about which 'open' standard their procurement should actually certify.
Second-order effects
- OASIS and the broader ODF alliance are forced into a defensive posture, arguing governance and implementation openness against a critic who once shared their banner, while the W3C alternative gains visibility as a third option neither Microsoft nor ODF controls.
- The standards fight shifts from spec-versus-spec comparisons toward credibility contests, raising the bar for any body claiming neutrality — including ISO, whose OOXML vote already drew scrutiny from both camps.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, document-format standardization becomes less about publishing open specifications and more about who governs them — with buyers learning to audit stewardship bodies, not just file formats, before mandating them.
The trend: Office-document standardization in 2007 is turning into a contest over governance credibility rather than technical merit, as even a format's own advocacy groups can defect when openness looks nominal rather than usable.