I spotted this on slashdot today. As most folks know, for several years the ODF (OpenDocument Foundation) has been hard at work on the ODF (OpenDocument Format). This is the file format behind the OpenOffice suite of tools and initially was intended to be an open, universal, file format that could be adopted for free and enhance inter-application exchange of data.
Microsoft, in typical fashion, decided to roll their own 'open' format. This rival standard called the Office Open XML certainly didn't help adoption of ODF, although with an ISO certification several government offices adopted ODF as a standard, most notably Massachusetts. Despite the ISO certification, widespread adoption of the ODF has been slow.
Now, Sam Hiser, VP of the ODF, has said that he sees the W3C standard CDF (Compound Document Format) as a more viable universal format than ODF. He stated simply that, "ODF is not the open format with the open process we thought it was". Why is this significant?
First, I think it speaks to how important the W3C is and has become over the past several years. The number of web standards in particular that have been formalized by the W3C is remarkable, whether they have been successful or not. Second, it (CDF) addresses an issue that I see on a daily basis in my role here at Compendium Blogware.
RSS and other feed formats such as ATOM have become ubiquitous in our Web 2.0 world. Many people aren't even aware that they use RSS. One of the things the RSS standard didn't do, unlike HTML and CSS, is separate structure from presentation. RSS is entirely about structure, and although HTML is often included in an RSS feed, the standard forbids it in many cases. Even when it's not forbidden, it's unwise, as non-web based feed browsers don't neccesarily understand HTML markup. HTML/XHTML is also changing regularly, and as many people know, implemented differently by browsers.
Enter CDF. As the W3C says, "Compound Document is the W3C term for a document that combines multiple formats". Such as, XHTML and RSS? Such as, VoiceML and RSS? I hope so. If the web started to standardize on CDF, and browsers and other feed readers and blog software implement that standard, you could imagine a much richer user interaction with feeds.
It's too bad that ODF went the direction it did. However, if we can see any adoption of CDF, RSS may get a lot more interesting over the next few years.
