Many interpreted the last article in this series as an attack on Microsoft for using the OOXML format against users’ interests. However, this was only one of my objectives, as I also wanted to raise users’ awareness of fake open-source software, such as OnlyOffice, which partners with Microsoft in a strategy to lock users in.
Users are already aware of the advantages of standard, open formats because they access sites every day whose content is accessible thanks to the HTML format. This is a standard, open format that was first developed and then defended by its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee. He prevented Microsoft from transforming it into a proprietary format with Internet Explorer 6. This forced users to have two versions of a site: one in a standard format and one in a proprietary format.
Fortunately, Microsoft’s strategy failed in the case of HTML because the W3C – unlike the ISO – never recognised the changes to the format “forced” by Internet Explorer as valid. This was because Internet Explorer did not display sites in the standard format correctly. Ultimately, this forced the company to develop a browser that complies with all standards, thus allowing users to choose their preferred browser to access any site.
Had the same thing happened with OOXML, which was recognised by ISO as a standard despite never having been one, users today would be forced to use the Microsoft browser to view sites correctly and would have to tolerate problems with other browsers. The same applies if they want to read and write DOCX, XLSX and PPTX files with open-source software.
However, using a proprietary format for documents also has other drawbacks for users. In this way, they entrust the keys to their own content to someone they do not know, whose interests differ from their own. In the best case scenario, the content is shared, and in the worst case scenario, it is at risk, as the Chief Prosecutor of the International Court of Justice unfortunately learned when Microsoft closed his email account on the orders of the President of the United States.
The same could happen to users of Microsoft 365 if the proprietary format were modified to render it unreadable or readable only by those with a specific version of the software. Is this something that could never happen? Why live with doubt when a standard, open format is available that no country or company can use as a weapon and which anyone can access using software that handles it correctly?
LibreOffice currently handles ODF files perfectly and handles OOXML files better than Windows 365 and other software handle ODF files. Poor handling of ODF files “forces” users towards OOXML files, thus pushing them towards lock-in and protecting a business worth around $30 billion (because lock-in functions like a pair of handcuffs).
We would like all software to adopt ODF as the reference format and handle it correctly in order to offer users true freedom of choice based on software functionality — as would be right in a world based on free competition and innovation, at least in theory.
Indeed, given the current geopolitical situation and the push towards digital sovereignty — or independence from major US technology companies — the educational function of LibreOffice and the Open Document Format standard is more important and relevant than ever.
