this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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LibreOffice criticizes EU Commission over proprietary XLSX formats (www.heise.de)
submitted 4 days ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
64 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The Foundation sees this as a contradiction to the EU's own interoperability goals. Although XLSX is standardized as OOXML according to ISO/IEC 29500, Microsoft's implementations often deviate from the specifications. Furthermore, features often change undocumented, which complicates compatibility with open-source software such as LibreOffice.

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[–] b_tr3e@feddit.org 109 points 4 days ago (3 children)

"bribed" is a gross simplifiction of the almost hilariously evil plot they pulled to get OOXML certified. They actually bribed a couple of smaller nation states to become IETF members and vote for Microsoft's standard. It was a major scandal back in the day but formally legal.

[–] Exatron@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago

I remember that plot also gumming up IETF business because the bribed nations just stopped participating after voting for Microsoft.

[–] Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago

I remember, only trouble is a lot of people at the time didn't care or were paid loads of money to not care.

Also the name Office Open XML right at the time OpenOffice was the only one about before oracle came in and fucked it over

[–] utopiah@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's like noticing a car crash and looking back... you know you shouldn't and yet it's somehow mesmerizing. So... where can I actually read about this please?

[–] b_tr3e@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Wikipedia for a beginning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardization_of_Office_Open_XML I remember The Register having a more detailed (and pretty snarky) article about it back then, but I didn't search for it yet.

[–] utopiah@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Ah, so niche but of course there is a great Wikipedia article for this, thank you!

I was listening to the podcase episode 318 "Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein w/ Tim Schwab" of Tech Won't Save Us thinking that honestly I had such a low esteem for Gates surely it couldn't get worst. Well, I was clearly very wrong.

Now to read this after listening to the podcast is a great example showcasing how dearly Microsoft KEEPS on fighting for its monopolistic position. It's not a "oh it just happen" kind of situation. It's a constant investment of resources in the worst kind of ways, not into making the product better, but rather this. Again, unsurprising but whenever people argue about Gates being a "good" person or how Microsoft "changed" and isn't what it was in the 2000s they are unfortunately very naive.

Anyway, digging into this, thanks again.

[–] b_tr3e@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago

You're welcome. It was a pleasure to set someomes ideas about Mr Gates right.