NoOOXML

Linux.com is organising a live debate on OOXML on the internet radio BlogTalkRadio featuring Jeff Waugh (Gnome Foundation) and Roy Schestowitz (BoycottNovell):

Linux.com ran an article headlined GNOME Foundation defends OOXML involvement on November 23. Jeff Waugh, the press officer on the GNOME Foundation Board, was prominently mentioned in that article and in several others to which it links. So was Roy Schestowitz, who wrote a post titled Anti-symbiosis: ODF, OOXML, Mono, GNOME, and OpenOffice.org on the Boycott Novell site, where he is a regular contributor. We thought getting them together might be illuminating.

This Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at 1 p.m. US EST (GMT -5) Linux.com is hosting a live podcast featuring Jeff Waugh, Roy Schestowitz, and reporter Bruce Byfield, who wrote the November 23 Linux.com article. Our editor in chief, Robin 'Roblimo' Miller, will moderate the discussion, which you can access either through a link we'll post here on Linux.com about 30 minutes before the conversation starts or directly at BlogTalkRadio.

You will be able to call in by phone at (646) 595-3863 (US non-toll-free number active only during the show) to participate directly in the live conversation or, if you prefer, you can post questions here, in advance, for us to ask on your behalf. You are also invited to join us @ irc.linux.com, #linux.com. This channel is already active, and will be live well after the one-hour show ends in case you want to continue the discussion.

The podcast will be archived for future downloading, so you'll still be able to hear it if you are unable to join us on Wednesday, but we sincerely hope you will be there, live, and that you not only listen but participate in the conversation.
Note: Deaf participants can join this conference via TDD by calling 605-475-4150 (U.S. "listen only" phone number) and entering participant access code 13245. Those who do not wish to use proprietary software (Flash, MP3) to hear this conference over the Internet are also invited to use this call-in number. It will be active approximately 10 minutes before the live podcast begins.

Here are some questions for the Gnome Foundation about OOXML:

1. Who are the authors the 662 comments recently unpublished by ECMA?
2. Who inside ECMA wrote the comment corresponding to GR-113 (refusal of correction of the function WORDKAY for the Muslim world)?
3. Microsoft will license its standard under RoyaltyFreeReasonableAndNonDiscriminatory (RFRAND) terms. Does Gnome will be able to implement this standard under the GPL licence?
4. Microsoft will license its standard under RoyaltyFreeReasonableAndNonDiscriminatory (RFRAND) terms (this licence is not the CNS or the OSP). Does this licence will allow sub-licensiability?
5. If I write an OOXML reader in C#, am I free of patent threats from Microsoft regarding C#?

You are also invited to post your questions by replying to this post. We will make sure they reach the radio.