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In 2007, IBM's Rob Weir roundly criticized OOXML because the principle justification for having a largely duplicative international standard was compatibility with the billions of extant legacy Microsoft Office documents in binary formats, yet the specifications for the binary formats were not included in the OOXML specification. Just how committed IBM management was to that position may be seen in the fact that IBM later instigated an antitrust investigation of Microsoft Office by the E.U.'s DG Competition through the European Committee on Interoperable Systems, alleging monopoly abuse by Microsoft on the same grounds, an investigation still ongoing. \n\nIn this blog post comment, IBM's Rob Weir takes a hard line position that the sufficiency of the OOXML standard's specificity must be determined on the basis of what is stated in the standard itself, as opposed to Microsoft's subsequent recoding of Office to remove compatibility defects between Microsoft's implementation of OOXML and the binary formats.\n\nThe quoted passage may be usefully compared to later IBM arguments and actions in regard to the OpenDocument.standard that will be included in later bookmarks. For example, Weir has been unyielding that vendor-defined extensions to the ODF standard must be classified as conformant in ODF 1.2, yet their specifications are definitionally not part of the ODF specification. As another example, in 2009 Weir attacked Microsoft for having implemented ODF 1.1 using formula markup different from that used by OOo, despite ODF 1.1's lack of specifications for spreadsheet formulas. Weir's rationale: that vendors must collaborate to code around holes in the standard. He came very close to arguing that data gaps in a standard are irrelevant. See e.g., http://www.robweir.com/blog/2009/05/battle-for-odf-interoperability.html \n\nHypothesis: IBM's treats ODF as a double standard rather than a standard. What IBM argues in effect is that what is required for OOXML does not apply

Rob Weir gets caught in another deceit and an apparent attempt to rewrite history. He condemns as Microsoft FUD what turns out to be his own statement, since removed from his web site but still preserved on other sites that quoted his article including Groklaw, which republished Weir's later article and called for an antitrust investigation of the Microsoft FUD Weir complained of. http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2009061001520015 That call is somewhat problematic when Weir and Groklaw were the original sources of the information. Dare the world hope for retractions?

Here, IBM's Rob Weir takes OOXML to task for not specifying scripts and macros. But nary a mention of the fact that OpenDocument suffers from the same weakness. Yet another IBM double standard. He also tacks on an ad hominem attack against Gary Edwards, in lieu of addressing the merits of what Edwards said.

Here we learn that when it comes to OOXML IBM's Rob Weir says that it is those in control of the data formats who control interoperability. But one may usefully juxtapose that view with Weir's statements that it's Microsoft's fault for breaking interoperability in its implementation of ODF 1.1 formulas. Weir had it right the first time; it's those who control the data formats who control interoperability. And that places the responsibility for the ODF 1.1 interop mess squarely at the feet of the IBM and Sun-dominated ODF TC. So we have yet another IBM double standard. One truth when it's OOXML being discussed but its opposite when it is ODF subjected to examination.

Now we learn that IBM's Rob Weir can't stand the heat of his own most frequently deployed weapon in debate with those who want less interop talk from IBM and more interop walk. See other quotes and links in this group."Calling names is boorish and unprofessional," he pronounces. A great quote to replay the next time Rob wilds the ad hominem fallacy as his weapon.  

IBM's Rob Weir does it again. What's to be done when your company is caught patenting methods implemented in an open standard for years? Change the subject in an attempt to kill the messenger who bears the news. Score another vitriolic ad hominem attack for Rob Weir.