Comment on LibreOffice criticizes EU Commission over proprietary XLSX formats

grue@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

• b_tr3e@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  “bribed” is a gross simplifiction of the almost hilariously evil plot they pulled to get OOXML certified. They actually bribed a couple of smaller nation states to become IETF members and vote for Microsoft’s standard. It was a major scandal back in the day but formally legal.

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  • Exatron@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I remember that plot also gumming up IETF business because the bribed nations just stopped participating after voting for Microsoft.

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  • Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I remember, only trouble is a lot of people at the time didn’t care or were paid loads of money to not care.

    Also the name Office Open XML right at the time OpenOffice was the only one about before oracle came in and fucked it over

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  • utopiah@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It’s like noticing a car crash and looking back… you know you shouldn’t and yet it’s somehow mesmerizing. So… where can I actually read about this please?

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    • b_tr3e@feddit.org ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Wikipedia for a beginning: en.wikipedia.org/…/Standardization_of_Office_Open… I remember The Register having a more detailed (and pretty snarky) article about it back then, but I didn’t search for it yet.

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      • utopiah@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Ah, so niche but of course there is a great Wikipedia article for this, thank you!

        I was listening to the podcase episode 318 “Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein w/ Tim Schwab” of Tech Won’t Save Us thinking that honestly I had such a low esteem for Gates surely it couldn’t get worst. Well, I was clearly very wrong.

        Now to read this after listening to the podcast is a great example showcasing how dearly Microsoft KEEPS on fighting for its monopolistic position. It’s not a “oh it just happen” kind of situation. It’s a constant investment of resources in the worst kind of ways, not into making the product better, but rather this. Again, unsurprising but whenever people argue about Gates being a “good” person or how Microsoft “changed” and isn’t what it was in the 2000s they are unfortunately very naive.

        Anyway, digging into this, thanks again.

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• MisterD@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  FYI: it wasn’t a bribe. It was a temporary takeover of the standards body. They paid for memberships of a bunch of new people on the board for the critical vote.

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  • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    So, a bribe with the proper bureaucratic steps?

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    • Jeffool@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I think saying that they “bribed the standards body” suggests the body was in on it. The actual allegation (I don’t know any facts, just these comments) seems to be that the body was subverted by other countries that were bribed by Microsoft. Being someone who doesn’t know the details there’s a worthwhile distinction there. Though that still opens questions about the board’s reaction, and I might read up on it all later.

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      • b_tr3e@feddit.org ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Let me assure you that the original board that was voting for Open Office’s proposal was absolutely pissed off, short of dissolving but eventually unable to revert the decision because of it’s formal correctness.

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  • b_tr3e@feddit.org ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    …and bribed the represenatives of the “new” IETF members as well as their governments to vote for Microsoft’s standard. The latter was, of course, a matter strictly between “business partners” and probably barred behind NDAs, so “legal” as long as nobody would blow the wistle.

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