Search Results for: security

To write this article, I went beyond the limits of my technical knowledge, which is that of an advanced user who has studied standard formats and their characteristics in depth, to understand why standard formats – one of the pillars of digital sovereignty – and proprietary formats – their opposite, and one of the biggest obstacles to digital sovereignty – are not perceived as a problem by most PC users, who continue to use Microsoft’s proprietary formats and place the access and availability of their content in the hands of the US company. To try to remedy this problem, I will try to explain as simply as possible, using non-technical language (which may shock developers, but this article is not aimed at them), some technical features of the Open Document Format (ODF), which make it the cornerstone of an open and vendor-independent ecosystem for office documents, defending the digital freedoms of all users and the governance of their content. I will begin by explaining how to unpack an ODF file, which is nothing more than a set of XML files and other files (for images and videos) contained within a ZIP folder, in order to examine its internal components and,

The Open Document Format (ODF) is an open standard format for office documents, which offers a vendor-independent, royalty-free way to encode text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. However, to realise its potential, it is necessary to understand the concepts of compliance – the degree to which an implementation adheres to ODF specifications – and interoperability – the ability to exchange and view ODF files without loss of fidelity or functionality across different applications and platforms. ODF is an XML-based file format that has been standardised by OASIS and ratified by ISO/IEC 26300. Milestones include: ODF 1.0 (2006): the initial version defining the basic document types: text (.odt), spreadsheet (.ods) and presentation (.odp). ODF 1.1 (2012): updates to formula specifications and accessibility improvements were made, but it was never submitted for standardisation. ODF 1.2 (2015): introduces digital signatures, RDF metadata, and OpenFormula for standardising spreadsheet calculations. ODF 1.3 (2020): an extension of security features, including improvements to encryption and import/export conventions, as well as a clarification of compliance clauses. Each version has strengthened the role of ODF as a universal interchange format, ensuring that documents remain readable and editable in all programs, both now and in the future. Definition of compliance

When we create or share a document – whether a simple text, complex spreadsheet or professional presentation – we make a choice that goes far beyond the file extension. This is because the format gives us, or takes away, control over the content. This post compares the Open Document Format (ODF) with proprietary formats such as DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. The comparison is not just about compatibility, but also about freedom, security, costs, transparency, and our long-term digital future. We have already discussed ODF, and we will continue to do so until its 10th anniversary as an ISO/IEC standard in May 2026, because it is the only open standard available to users. We hope that an increasing number of users will understand how important it is for them to use it to have complete and lasting control over the content they have created, i.e. for their digital freedom, rather than for those of us who support it. ODF is the native format of LibreOffice and other programmes that use the LibreOffice Technology platform. These programmes offer the same functionality, flexibility, security, robustness and interoperability as applications that promote proprietary formats, but without the lock-in strategy. Incidentally, even so-called open-source applications