OpenDocument Foundation Closes

Munchkinguy writes "First, they dropped support for their namesake OpenDocument Format and declared a switch to the W3C's 'Compound Document Format.' Then, W3C's Chris Lilley clarified that CDF 'was not created to be, and isn't suitable for use as, an office format.' Now, the Foundation has mysteriously closed up shop, leaving the following message: 'The OpenDocument Foundation, Inc. is closed. We sincerely wish our friends and associates in the OpenDocument Community all the best and much success going forward. Good-bye and good luck.'"

Fishy

[corychristison]

This really does sound fishy to me... Especially since (last I checked) Microsoft was a large part of W3C?

Good riddance

[tsa]

We don't need any official-sounding non-organizations spreading (F)UD.

Foundation has no official status

[ral315]

As was said in the last story [slashdot.org], the OpenDocument Foundation has no official status -- it was merely a group founded by a few guys who have changed their minds about OpenDocument (whether they were paid to do so or not, no one knows). The closure of the Foundation has no impact, other than the ability for OOXML supporters to spread FUD headlines like this.

Re:Microsoft shut them down

[semiotec]

nope, I was thinking that they realised their gaffe has really backfired and there was nowhere else left for them to go. So they simply packed up and went home.

On the assumption that these people are not entirely stupid:

1. If they were really working to break MS Office dominance, they would have realised by now that what they have said was completely stupid, and may have brought harm to the "cause", as the damages were amplified by clueless "journalists" and "analysts" (e.g. http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=875 [zdnet.com])

2. If they were MS stooges, the credibility required to carried out their work successfully was pretty much destroyed.

Nothing more to do in either case, to continue hanging onto the empty name of OpenDocument Foundation would be farcical on the same scale as Enderle or DiDio.

Resurrect it then

[presidenteloco]

Someone else (who isn't busy like me ;-) ) should form another organization by the same name then
I suppose.

Anyone?

The worst that could happen is that M$ will pay you a bundle to close it down again.

At best you could shepherd a format that we sorely need promoted.

Re:Foundation has no official status

[Anonymous Coward]

They weren't paid to change their minds... they were just given some $400,000 for a three-month deal to not market the OpenDocument Format.

Excellent precedent

[belmolis]

This is an excellent precedent. Maybe the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution [wikipedia.org] will follow their lead.

Re:Microsoft shut them down

[Trogre]

"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand."

I read it in a book once.

There was a time when a standard was made by....

[3seas]

...popular usage and not by committee.

Ah, so this is a statement that we are getting back to that.

We don't need a foundation. all we need is popular usage....