The Document Foundation argues that people should use the Open Document Format instead of OOXML that is controlled by a single company.
The Document Foundation argues that people should use the Open Document Format instead of OOXML that is controlled by a single company.
They’re not wrong. Making the default a proprietary format further entrenches that format even if you’re using a different product, it still helps Microslop.
Switching the default to an PDF instead removed that implicit support while still allowing users the flexibility to use the OOXML format if needed.
I think that’s a complicated decision.
First, the default format of an office suite is not just the format it saves to. It’s the format used internally by the software. Meaning that its internal classes and data structures follow the file format.
Changing the default file format is a major effort, and if you want to do that you should have just changed the office suite you decided to fork, by starting from Collabora Office instead of OnlyOffice. Which maybe they should have…
But all things considered, I can’t really fault the choice of OOXML as default. This enables them to better support all their existing documents (that’s not nothing) and also better interoperability in mixed spaces.
Even if this were to finally become the default office suite across the Union, it won’t do that overnight, and MS ans EuroOffice will have to coexist at a minimum for a loooong time.
I suspect that last paragraph is most of the reason they chose the default they did. They are already going to get a bunch of pushback on the change, and the closer to a 1 to 1 swap it is, the less pushback there will be.
The other point is, the more likely it is to just play nice with files coming out of MS Office, the less they’ll need to waste time and IT resources troubleshooting things, even if the fix is literally clicking ok on a dialog box.
It seems like they could’ve avoided this entire controversy by just not making it the default file format. Like the support for OOXML could be exceptional. Maybe even top in its category, but just keep the default ODF. The software isn’t being offered in good faith with how it exists in its current form.