[FSUG-Bangalore] Todays Hindu News on Candle Light Vigil for Document freedom

[Anivar Aravind]

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/15/stories/2008041554380500.htm

  Techies protest proprietary standards; seek policy

Deepa Kurup

ISO adopts Microsoft’s Office Open XML as a document standard

13 of 19 members of BIS voted against Microsoft’s OOXML

More than technical flaws identified in OOXML’s document

BANGALORE: Ever since the International Standardisation Organisation
(ISO) vote on April 2 adopted Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) as a
document standard, techie blogs and websites have been inundated with
posts and articles voicing their opposition to proprietary software and
technical issues with the new standard.

Organisations and online communities — such as the Free Software User
Group and the Free and Open Source Software — are looking to raise the
issue more aggressively in the public domain. “We call the OOXML format
a “banana standard.” Besides raising awareness, we want the Government
to formulate a policy supporting Open Standards and also appeal the ISO
mandate,” said Anivar Aravind, a software consultant who will
participate in a rally in front of the Town Hall on Tuesday to raise
awareness about Open Document formats and demand a national policy on
standardisation and use of Open Software.

In simple words, the problem is one of compatibility, an important issue
in this digital world. For example, take the much hyped e-governance. If
the Government maintains its land records in a certain digital format,
and the documentation uses a proprietary format, then a user will have
to keep upgrading his operating system to access the record. Proponents
of Free Software argue that even with Microsoft’s old document format
(.doc), a file created seven to eight years ago may not be recognised by
a modern operating systems such as XP. “This is like being sold a house
without being given the key to it. We need public support to take it to
the policy level,” says Venkatesh Hariharan, who was part of a Bureau of
Indian Standards (BIS) committee.

The BIS, which represents India at ISO, had 19 members of which 13 voted
against Microsoft’s OOXML. Many academics and colleges (NIT-Calicut
among others) have written open letters to TCS, Infosys, NASSCOM, Wipro
(that voted to abstain) and Microsoft (voted in favour of OOXML). There
is a rising fear among academics and advocates of free software
standards that BIS will come under pressure in the absence of any
national policy. Tamil Nadu and Kerala are the only two States who have
a policy in place.

“Very big voices like NASSCOM and Infosys that have not participated in
even one meeting have voted irresponsibly. We fear that if such lobbying
continues, academics and individuals like us will be put on the
defensive, unless there is a policy in place,” said Nagarjuna G.,
professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, who was part of
the technical committee of BIS. This committee alone identified 200-odd
technical flaws in OOXML’s 7,000 page document — the Open Document
Format is 600 pages — and more than 1,000 others were identified
internationally.

The National Knowledge Commission Report 2006 and the Eleventh Five Year
plan for Information Technology recommend Free Software.