computer science

OpenDocument Format Alliance

OpenDocument Format Alliance is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand OpenDocument Format Alliance rather than just read about it. In short: The Open Document Format Alliance (ODF Alliance) was a Washington, D.C.–based lobbying organization established by IBM, Sun Microsystems and SIIA to "promote and advance the use of OpenDocument Format (ODF) as the primary document format for governments" Although originally focused on promotion of ODF "via legislation or by executive policy decision", the ODF Alliance also did extensive PR and lobbying in opposition…

Key takeaways

OpenDocument Format Alliance belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect OpenDocument Format Alliance to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of OpenDocument Format Alliance from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Open Document Format Alliance (ODF Alliance) was a Washington, D.C.–based lobbying organization established by IBM, Sun Microsystems and SIIA to "promote and advance the use of OpenDocument Format (ODF) as the primary document format for governments" Although originally focused on promotion of ODF "via legislation or by executive policy decision", the ODF Alliance also did extensive PR and lobbying in opposition to the Microsoft-backed Office Open XML standard. Founded by IBM, Sun and 33 other companies and organizations on March 3, 2006, the Alliance has more than 500 members. However, funding sources are not itemized in the organization's 2007 annual report, so membership financial participation is unclear. The ODF Alliance does not give a physical location on their website, but from documents filed with the State of New York, the organization appears to be headquartered on the 6th floor of 1090 Vermont Avenue NW in Washington, DC 20005, sharing offices with the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), one of the original backers of the ODF Alliance.

Staff The executive director is Marino Marcich, who served for four years in the Bush administration's State Department prior to joining the ODF Alliance. While at the Department of State, he was part of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's inner circle. Prior to joining the Bush administration, "Marcich also served as the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) assistant vice president for international economic affairs, leading key lobby campaigns for World Trade Organization accession and trade-promotion authority." Public Relations for the ODF Alliance are handled by Rational PR, headed by Kathyrn Brownlee. Although Rational PR does not list the ODF Alliance as a client as of April 2008, SIIA is listed.

Structure The ODF Alliance website provides no information on funding or management structure. At this time, the website lists 6 "national chapters" outside of the United States; Brazil, Europe, India, Malaysia, Poland and Portugal, but it is unclear if those chapter organizations have any input into the policy decisions of the organization.

Activities ODF Preferences The ODF Alliance has also been very active in lobbying U.S. State and International governments on ODF issues to promote legislative mandates for the use of the ODF document format. The ODF Alliance has provided public testimony in the following fora:

2008 April 9: Testimony before the Government Reform Committee, State of Texas; 2007 February 7: Newsletter to ODF Alliance Members; 2007 April 17: AB 1668 California Assembly Bill: Bill Analysis. Anti-OOXML During late 2007 though 2008, the ODF Alliance was focused on lobbying ISO members in order to prevent OOXML from being accepted by ISO.

Ongoing: OOXML Updates and Analysis; 2007 June 7: "ODF Alliance posts documents about OOXML/OpenXML/whatever"; 2008 February 25: Open Forum Europe Geneva Conference. Last known Newsletter The ODF Alliance website's last snapshot saved by Archive.org dates back from March 24, 2013. Even then, the latest published news was the "ODFA Newsletter" from October 2010, implying the Alliance ceased to operate long before the website was shut down. During 2014 the domain name odfalliance.org went from displaying error pages to briefly displaying ODF-related news, and to finally housing legal information about injury lawyers. In 2015 odfalliance.org housed cigar news. No news could be found about exactly when or why the ODFA was dissolved.

References

External links Official website ODF Alliance, Who, What, Where (and Why?) - Slashdot commentary.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with OpenDocument Format Alliance

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what OpenDocument Format Alliance claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to OpenDocument Format Alliance before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about OpenDocument Format Alliance ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of OpenDocument Format Alliance

In research: OpenDocument Format Alliance appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses OpenDocument Format Alliance in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: OpenDocument Format Alliance is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Free and open-source software organizations, Open standards, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for OpenDocument Format Alliance outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study OpenDocument Format Alliance in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what OpenDocument Format Alliance means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain OpenDocument Format Alliance out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is OpenDocument Format Alliance in simple terms?

Why does OpenDocument Format Alliance matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study OpenDocument Format Alliance?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on OpenDocument Format Alliance.