would like to excuse myself for my previous email...was overwhelmed by the anger of the whole thing..
On 8/31/07, Anton Xuereb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > ostja haq al liba xi dwejjaq :/ kazzati taz zobb hawn malta u kulfejn > jidhol il microsoft :/ > > bleh..can we protest the decision ? nice big march somewere ? > > On 8/31/07, Ramon Casha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Sorry guys. It's bad news, though not unexpected, on the OOXML front. > > The Maltese vote passed as "yes with comments" which basically means that > > Malta approves and has thrown in a few suggestions, rather than "no with > > comments" (which ISO describes as a conditional approval), which would have > > meant that the standard would have to be corrected before moving on. Now > > everything depends on how other countries vote but it seems that Microsoft > > has been spending a lot of money there. > > > > > > > > Yesterday, Sweden's national standards body, which had initially voted > > "yes", recalled and invalidated its own vote after news broke that Microsoft > > had actually paid people to go and vote for OOXML in the standard body. Once > > it was out and a scandal was brewing, Microsoft admitted as much though it > > said that the employee had acted of his own accord and against company > > policy (Yeah right, I'm sure he paid them out of his monthly salary). > > > > > > > > Here in Malta (only one day later), the responses to my comments raised > > by the University representative happened to match exactly – comma by comma > > – the responses given by Microsoft to the standards body in India. I ran > > across a perplexing statement in which the responder referred to "IBM's > > objections" – despite the fact that there's nobody from IBM on the > > committee. Feeling intrigued, I pasted it into Google and violà! Author: > > Microsoft. > > > > > > > > It had already been pretty clear which way this was going even before I > > read that, so I wasn't surprised when the meeting turned out to be nothing > > but a string of denials, on a roster basis, by each of the Microsoft voters, > > that OOXML contains any flaws whatsoever. Actually it was irritating to see > > them debating the issues, taking a personal interest and often actually > > admitting that there were real issues, before the vote comes along and all > > bowing their head and voting to reject the comment. Throughout the meeting, > > there was one single occasion when the MITTS representative voted to retain > > one comment but only after it had been toned down a bit. For the rest, > > Microsoft allowed its voters to approve a handful of very trivial comments > > as "general comments". > > > > > > > > The final decision was – 5 votes to send a "yes with comments" vote, and > > one – me – voting for a "no with comments". > > > > > > > > Ramon > > Tel: (+356) 21421600 URL: www.megabyte.net Fax: (+356) 21421590 E-mail: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] DISCLAIMER The information contained in this > > electronic mail may be confidential or legally privileged. It is for the > > intended recipient(s) only. Should you receive this message in error, please > > notify the sender by replying to this mail. Unauthorised use of the contents > > is strictly prohibited. Whilst all care has been taken, the Megabyte Group > > is not responsible for the integrity of the contents of this electronic mail > > and any attachments included within. > > _______________________________________________ > > MLUG-list mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://mailserv.megabyte.net/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list > > > > >
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