OOXML final tally to come…
by Ruth Suehle
The final vote will be tallied today, but by most counts, Microsoft got enough votes for OOXML to pass. Until the official report, we have plenty of articles to read about how things went on Friday, and quite a few people in agreement that OOXML standard will tarnish ISO.
Groklaw covers what it calls “irregularities” in the voting process in Germany, Norway, and Croatia:
Unbelievable. If it was happening in only one country, you might think it was local difficulties. But when it happens in place after place, one can only conclude that Microsoft, although outnumbered in a fair vote, has sufficient clout behind the scenes to shove this format into the world’s mouth and hold its mouth closed by force until the world is compelled to swallow. Remember that Microsoft memo that surfaced in the Comes v. Microsoft litigation? The one about how to stack a panel discussion at conferences so it would be favorable to Microsoft? The key was to get to be the moderator.
One thing is certain. Unless ISO steps up and fixes this mess, it will lose the world’s respect, and rightly so. Either the rules mean something, or they don’t, but if they don’t standards don’t mean anything either.
ZDNet reported on the absurdity of the voting choices:
Delegates to the meeting, held in Geneva, were presented with a decision like the one facing the central character of the movie Sophie’s Choice, in which a woman has to decide which of her children will die, according to Brazilian delegate Jomar Silva.
ConsortiumInfo is keeping track of the votes if you want to do the math yourself. Stay tuned…
