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ZoooS Previews “OpenOffice.org 3.0 in a Browser” | Software Journal

Yet another wrapper around OpenOffice.org, this time the 3.0 version still in beta. $99.90 per seat for 10 users, Lots of Javascript to give a web collaboration capability. Perhaps most notable so far: [i] a sniff that there's a fair amount of money behind this one; and [ii] an article by Eric Lai says they approached the OOo Project but were rebuffed because they compete with desktop OOo. Support for different browsers planned. an XULRunner plug-in the works. Several mashups mentioned. Claims 80 percent of OOo features available, which is another way of saying that 20 per cent of the features are not supported. Claim that oSays code will be released under GPL. Apparently that's just their custom stuff because OOo 3.0 beta is LGPL. Building a business atop a code base controlled by a malevolent branch of Sun Microsystems seems less than wise. More at zooos.com. Preliminary impression: Like OOo itself, dead end technology that sucks mind and market share from software that supports truly open standards. The world needs to figure out that the OpenDocument format is roughly as open as OOXML. Open standards are fully specified so anyone can implement them.

Tags: zoos, ooo cartel, dead end technology about 15 hours ago -All Annotations (3) -About

more fromstuff.techwhack.com

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ZoooS takes OpenOffice.org to the Web

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more fromwww.computerworld.com

At the Office 2.0 conference in San Francisco this week, the California-European start-up will preview a Web office suite that is based on the free, open-source OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Office's main desktop competitor.
ZoooS' framework translates the OpenOffice.org code, making it browser-friendly.
"It's almost all JavaScript, so it runs really fast; you don't even need Google Chrome," El-Emam said.
He conceded that ZoooS competes with the desktop version of OpenOffice.org. As a result, attempts to forge an alliance with the open-source group "weren't really successful," he said, despite promises to release ZoooS' code as open source via the GPL (General Public License) within the next six months.
The basic cost is $999 for a perpetual server license for 10 users, which includes installation support and a few basic support incidents after that.
ZoooS offers Google Docs-like collaboration, such as letting users simultaneously edit the same document.

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Tectonic » Southern nations frown on ISO

Document discussed in the article is downloadable from http://www.serpro.gov.br/noticiasSERPRO/2008/tecnologia/software-livre/joint_letter_cuba.odt

Tags: OOXML, ODF, ISO_IEC, jtc 1, appeals, standards on 2008-09-02 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.tectonic.co.za

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Rapid - Press Releases - EUROPA

Tags: no_tag on 2008-09-02 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromeuropa.eu

As regards interoperability, in its Microsoft judgment of 17 September 2007,
the Court of First Instance confirmed the principles that must be respected by
dominant companies as regards interoperability disclosures. In the complaint by
ECIS, Microsoft is alleged to have illegally refused to disclose
interoperability information across a broad range of products, including
information related to its Office suite, a number of its server products, and
also in relation to the so called .NET Framework. The Commission's
examination will therefore focus on all these areas, including the question
whether Microsoft's new file format Office Open XML, as implemented in Office,
is sufficiently interoperable with competitors' products.

As for the tying of separate software products, in its Microsoft judgment of
17 September 2007, the Court of First Instance confirmed the principles that
must be respected by dominant companies. In a complaint by Opera, a competing
browser vendor, Microsoft is alleged to have engaged in illegal tying of its
Internet Explorer product to its dominant Windows operating system. The
complaint alleges that there is ongoing competitive harm from Microsoft's
practices, in particular in view of new proprietary technologies that Microsoft
has allegedly introduced in its browser that would reduce compatibility with
open internet standards, and therefore hinder competition. In addition,
allegations of tying of other separate software products by Microsoft, including
desktop search and Windows Live have been brought to the Commission's attention.
The Commission's investigation will therefore focus on allegations that a range
of products have been unlawfully tied to sales of Microsoft's dominant operating
system.
Antitrust: Commission initiates formal
investigations against Microsoft in two cases of suspected abuse of dominant
market position

The European Commission has decided to initiate two
formal antitrust investigations against Microsoft Corp concerning two separate
categories of alleged infringements of EC Treaty rules on abuse of a dominant
market position (Article 82). The first case where proceedings have been opened
is in the field of interoperability in relation to a complaint by the European
Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS). The second area where proceedings
have been opened is in the field of tying of separate software products
following inter alia a complaint by Opera.

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Microsoft breaks IE8 interoperability promise | The Register

Article by Hakon Lie of Opera Software. Also note that acdcording to the European Commission, "As for the tying of separate software products, in its Microsoft judgment of 17 September 2007, the Court of First Instance confirmed the principles that must be respected by dominant companies. In a complaint by Opera, a competing browser vendor, Microsoft is alleged to have engaged in illegal tying of its Internet Explorer product to its dominant Windows operating system. The complaint alleges that there is ongoing competitive harm from Microsoft's practices, in particular in view of new proprietary technologies that Microsoft has allegedly introduced in its browser that would reduce compatibility with open internet standards, and therefore hinder competition. In addition, allegations of tying of other separate software products by Microsoft, including desktop search and Windows Live have been brought to the Commission's attention. The Commission's investigation will therefore focus on allegations that a range of products have been unlawfully tied to sales of Microsoft's dominant operating system." http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/19&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Tags: MSIE, MSIE 8, quirks mode, standards mode, web standards, hakon Lie, Opera, Microsoft, opera on 2008-09-02 and saved by2 people -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.theregister.co.uk

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IDABC - TESTA: Trans European Services for Telematics between Admini

Note that Barack Obama's campaign platform technology plank calls for something similar in the U.S., under the direction of the nation's first National CIO, with an emphasis on open standards, interoperability, and reinvigorated antitrust enforcement. Short story: The E.U. is 12 years ahead of the U.S. in developing a regional SOA connecting all levels of government and in the U.S., open standards-based eGovernment has achieved the status of a presidential election issue. All major economic powers either follow the E.U.'s path or get left in Europe's IT economic dust. The largest missing element of the internet, a unified internet architecture that rejects big vendor incompatible IT standard games, is under way. I can't stress too much how key TESTA has been in the E.U.'s initiatives regarding document formats, embrace of open source software, and competition law intervention in the IT industry (e.g., the Microsoft case). The E.U. is very serious about restoring competition in the IT market, using both antitrust law and the government procurement power.

Tags: TESTA, soa, internet architecture, European Union, idabc, competition, standards, interop on 2008-08-31 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromec.europa.eu

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New direction for 'JavaScript 2' | InfoWorld | Analysis | 2008-08-26 | By Paul Krill

Tags: JavaScript on 2008-08-30 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.infoworld.com

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IPhone software developers stifled under Apple's gag order - Los Angeles Times

Tags: Apple, iphone, screwups on 2008-08-28 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.latimes.com

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Mozilla, ARM and Others Eyeing a New Class of Device | OStatic

Tags: devices, ARM, Mozilla, ultra-mobile, Nokia on 2008-08-26 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromostatic.com

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Would a VMware Acquisition of Red Hat Go Anywhere? | OStatic

Tags: VMWare, Red Hat, virtualization on 2008-08-26 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromostatic.com

Get Satisfaction - People-Powered Customer Service

Interesting SaaS. Social Helpdesk? Folks post gripes about companies or products. Many companies have assigned folks to respond. E.g., Comcast has 9 staffers responding to customer support issues. Some start-ups are using the service as their only customer support web presence. If we view IT support on a continuum, we begin with in-house call centers, move to newsgroups and outsourced call centers, etc. Now a SaaS in the cloud for many companies' customer support? The company has a great (short) slideshow at <http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2008/07/02/targeting-the-companies/>. It has a fantastic punchline.

Tags: web2.0, customer support, SaaS on 2008-08-25 and saved by105 people -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromgetsatisfaction.com

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Offline Web Applications

Tags: HTML5, offline apps on 2008-08-24 -All Annotations (0) -About

more fromwww.w3.org

YouTube - Lessig on McCain on Tech

Last week, the John McCain campaign finally published its technology platform plank. Larry Lessig takes a critical look at it on three major issues: [i] U.S. broadband uptake relative to other nations; [ii] network neutrality. as it relates to the freedom of internet users to select what use they wish to make of the internet; and [iii how the McCain platform contrasts with the Obama technology plank. Lessig's normal luciidity and in-depth research shines brightly in this Informative video presentation to make his point that the future of the Web is now a presidential campaign issue.

Tags: lessig, mccain, obama, network neutrality, broadband uptake on 2008-08-20 -All Annotations (0) -About