Re: [tdf-discuss] Re: Font Embedding in ODF (was RE: ANN: ODF 1.2 Candidate OASIS Standard Enters 60-Day Public Review)

Le Sat, 25 Jun 2011 12:34:29 +0200,
Manfred Usselmann <usselmann.m@icg-online.de> a écrit :

> On Sat, 25 Jun 2011 01:25:47 -0700 (PDT)
> plino <pedlino@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > In any case, if LibreOffice's goal is to be a suite that stands
> > behind the ODF format then it should review what it promises. If it
> > can't embed fonts, it can never be a replacement for MS Office.
>
> Does MS Office embed fonts?
>
> Manfred

No it doesn't. But I think we're also missing the point if -let's say
we were to design a brand new office file format that embeds or does
not embed fonts- why should anyone be using it? Choosing a format
that's not the dominant format is already a reasoned choice, oftentimes
an act of departure from the dominant player, and sometimes a political
act. Embedding fonts will not magically solve the MSFT formats
dominance in the field of office suite. The challenger here is ODF,
which has a rather wide support that extends much beyond LibreOffice.
We certainly can improve ODF and are encouraged to do so; but I would
like to point out that document formats follow (strange?)specific rules
and patterns that usually do not rely on any specific feature that
would decide its dominance. The most famous pattern here is the network
effect, essentially meaning that the more a format gets used, well...
the more it gets used :) In order to change its dominance you need to
be breaking its "network" of users and you can't do it because you have
something better (okay, you should have something better, but it
usually does not rely on the format if it's meant to serve the same
purposes) but because users or the ones mandating such uses have taken
the decision to stop using the dominant format. Hence the value of
standardization that helps enable a level playing field for the
competition but also acts as a value proposition that has in itself the
merit of breaking the habit of using the format of the dominant player.


Best,
Charles.

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