TECH Signal 225
Is There a Way to Promote Open Document Formats Instead of 'MS Office' Format?
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Engineers building document processing or interoperability systems must reverse-engineer Microsoft's actual behavior rather than implement against the published specification, because the de facto standard diverges from the de jure one. A compliance test suite that continuously tracks Microsoft's evolving implementation and its proprietary dependencies like fonts would be needed to make alternative engines viable for a critical mass of users.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
The Document Foundation reports that Microsoft uses a transitional OOXML variant as its default rather than the cleaner Strict variant, breaking the standard in practice.
A test suite is needed that tests OOXML engines against what Microsoft actually does, accounting for proprietary dependencies like fonts and tracking the ground truth of Microsoft's evolving products.
TDF frames the choice of file format, font, and software as a digital sovereignty issue, arguing that proprietary formats perpetuate dependency rather than communicate information.
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