Microsoft Opens Office File Formats

Microsoft has announced (again) that it is opening up it’s Office XML file formats and submitting them to the Ecma standards body. Tim Bray and Andy Updegrove have good posts on the issue. I share Andy Updegrove’s questions about whether the license and promise not to sue over patents will be compatible with the GPL and whether Ecma will certify both OASIS ODF and Office XML as standards.