MS Open Whatever V0.9 - Act now!
In his article “Defending Openness“, Glynn Moody explains how the next MS-ploy against Free and Open Software works:
“Even more dangerously, the company has named these new formats Microsoft Office Open XML. Note the word “open” here: Microsoft is using a term which hitherto stood in stark opposition to everything the company represents. By employing “open” in this way – however apparently minor or unimportant – it has begun a subtle process of devaluation.”
and
If Microsoft is allowed to continue with this ploy, “open” will gradually become just another generic marketing term like “leading-edge” or “user-friendly”: a term that everyone uses and which no longer has any real value.
“This is potentially an extremely damaging strategy, since it is hard to put back the power in a word once it has been drained away. Perhaps the only response is constant and vocal rejection of anything the Microsoft brands as “open” unless it is truly and completely open, through a detailed repudiation of any false claims that it makes in this regard.”
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