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The OpenDocument Format (ODF) is the open standard implementation of XML for
electronic office documents that was ratified by the International Standards
Organization (ISO) in May 2005.
Microsoft's proprietary formats (including their XML) are not ODF compliant and are
designed solely to lock you in to using Microsoft software – choice is not an option!
The ideal for a standard file format for electronic documents is one that is open,
accessible to everyone, and that can be implemented in any kind of software --
whether of the commercial type, or of the Free Software or open source type.
The ODF is already the target of IT policy or legislation in Massachusetts, Minnesota,
the Bristol City Council (England), and at the national and municipal government
levels in Belgium, Denmark, France, Australia, S Korea, and Malaysia, among others.
Please help promote the use of ODF at UBC and in all your work.
IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICE
Never send documents in MS Office formats (thereby forcing others to use MS Office)
and don't accept MS Office formated documents from others (who thereby force you
into using it!).
OpenOffice.org 2.0 and its sibling commercial office suite, and StarOffice 8 are
the most mature tools available today to users seeking to create documents
in ODF. We strongly support their use for all your work.