Right, okay, so there was a meeting at Pikom's office, where their councillors were seeking clarification on issues brought up by Malaysia during the BRM, regarding DIS29500. Yoon Kit's explained why he wasn't there (in a nutshell, since there was some initial confusion as to whether non-members of Pikom could attend or not, he elected to spend time with the in-laws[1]), and Doug's [2] given his take on it.
As is the nature of these things, I would like to start my account of the meeting by nitpicking on one tiny little point -- I am not on the anti-OOXML side and in so far as I can tell, neither is Jeremy Allison (a.k.a. Jazzer me mate), Dinesh or Shane. Speaking for myself, I have no real strong opinion on OOXML, other than that DIS29500 seems broken to me, not just because Malaysia had 23 comments, but because the world and their pets seems to have collectively made more than 3000 comments.
Doug noted that the guys on the opposite side of the table from Microsoft (and (BANGS hand on table!) Ecma!) did not discuss any of the 23 comments made by Malaysia for the BRM ... and he's right, we didn't. Again, speaking for myself, prior to the meeting, I was sceptical that the "pro-OOXML" gang would actually just concentrate on that. This was mainly because I didn't know who would be attending on their side. I certainly did not expect that Microsoft would bring Doug Mahugh, Oliver Bell, Dave Welsh and (BANGS hand on table!) Jan van de Veld, former Sec-Gen of Ecma International. I fully expected Microsoft to apply the Chewbacca Defense strategy, and therefore figured that I must concentrate on my own Wookie-based defense.
Jeremy Allison prior to the meeting had already told me that he felt that restricting the meeting solely to discussing the 23 comments made by Malaysia would not be productive, since DIS29500 did not affect Malaysia alone, but the entire world. I just nodded, because at the time I was still thinking if there was any other Wookie that actually had a name in the Star Wars universe.
Anyway, before that line of thought gets even sillier, I'll get to my point and leave it at that.
My main reason for attending the meeting at Pikom was I was hoping to be able to make the Pikom councillors understand that DIS29500 at its current state is not fit to be approved as an ISO standard. Sure, there are questions raised regarding the efficacy of the Fast Track process (i.e. maybe Ecma should have tried a Not-So-Fast Track if there was one), and Jeremy at the very least would have been happy to discuss technical issues. Yoon Kit and Ditesh could have attended, and proceeded to split hairs with the Microsoft (and Ecma (BANGS hand ... never mind)) guys.
But that would only emphasise the main problem with DIS29500: given the volume of comments submitted, given the fact that Malaysia's representative (along with a bunch of other countries' reps) to the BRM chose to disapprove a majority of the resolutions means that there is something wrong.
Mr. van de Veld had pointed out that it's better to have a good standard now rather than a perfect standard later and well, the point is that it's not good now. And while everyone can accept that it would be highly improbable for something like DIS29500 to ever be perfect, let's at least get a good start first.
He also noted that the BRM was not the beginning of DIS29500, and that it was in 2005 when it all started and there weren't that many keen people wanting to get involved then (except, of course, the British Library of Congress, Apple, Novell, and another entity or two). So, to moan about the process now is a bit late. Well, better late than never, is what I say! Or rather, what I should've said at the meeting and didn't, because ... well, I felt it would be impolite and I didn't want to seem rude to him[5].
Oliver Bell pointed out that ODF was passed without as intense a scrutiny as OOXML and that ODF has flaws too. I pointed out that ODF is not quite why the meeting was being held that night, and as far as I'm concerned, that's no longer relevant. He then pointed out that it would not be fair for us to have a lower bar for ODF and a higher bar for OOXML. I wish I had the erudition that night to point out that if the bar was lowered for OOXML, then ... well, two wrongs don't make a right. PDF was also mentioned as well, and I must admit that I began to wonder if we were going to descend into a "which standard is lousier" argument at that point in time. It didn't, thankfully, because I'm usually useless at the "Yo Momma so fat" genre of hissy fights.
So, to return to the point, given that DIS29500 does not even seem to be good at this point, if Pikom voted "Yes" to it, it would be irresponsible on their part. They should vote "No", and allow Microsoft (Ecma!) to consolidate, rationalise and resubmit the draft standard to ISO, via normal process. Microsoft's reps alluded that if OOXML is not passed this time around, there's no guarantee that it would be resubmitted to ISO, and I fail to see why that should mean that it needs to be passed now. The standard doesn't magically become better simply because it was given a pass.
On the subject of handling the issues in Maintenance, the point is why? Why do it in Maintenance, when you can do it in The Now?
And finally, because I really need to be doing something else right now, I would like to appeal to Microsoft and Ecma to just pull back, make the thing look like an actual OPEN standard, and resubmit. While I respect your intensity and dedication in trying to get DIS29500 approved, I still cannot avoid thinking that your sincerity is still suspect.
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[1] That someone would rather spend time with the in-laws rather than go to a meeting says something. I don't know what, though.
[2] Having met him for the first time, I can categorically confirm that Doug Mahugh is a bald dude with a tache[3].
[3] This is because I was once asked to describe what Hasan was like, and all I could say is that he's the dude with a white spot on the back of his head[4].
[4] Please do not ask me any more to describe who anyone is like.
[5] Because Mr. van de Veld looked like a guy you didn't want to be rude to, okay.