[NLnet Press] NLnet foundation puts weight behind ODF

[NLnet foundation press list]

NLnet foundation puts weight behind ODF

                         18 January 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

   Dutch charitative venture capitalist NLnet [1] has selected the Open
   Document Format as one of the two main areas it will focus its
   funding on in the next year. That means it will spend a significant
   amount of its 2008 annual budget on the development of (open source)
   ODF tools, community building and contributing to the standards
   development process of the upcoming ODF 1.2 version.

ODF is a broadly supported ISO-standard [2] for Office formats that is
the successor to corporate-owned file formats such as .doc, .wpd and
.xls. It is fast becoming the default file format of choice for text
editors, spreadsheets and other office applications within governments,
businesses and for personal use.

"Open Document Format is making it possible to store the majority of
information we use every day in a future proof and innovation-friendly
format," says Michiel Leenaars, strategy manager at NLnet. "We see a
vast demand and bright future for ODF, especially now Microsoft has
started abandoning its old file formats without a decent stable
alternative."

The foundation believes that 2008 will see the mass breakthrough of ODF.
"There is so much momentum. ODF is truly disruptive technology in
disguise," states Leenaars. "It will turn the world of computers as we
know it upside down completely; that is why we will be there to support
the general interest with our investments". The foundation has already
started work on an ODF tool to collaborate on a single document with
potentially thousands of people at the same time. NLnet was one of the
founding members of the recently started OpenDoc Society [3], a global
not-for-profit member based organisation uniting consumers,
technologists, entrepreneurs and policy makers around the globe.
Recently, NLnet joined ECMA TC45 to ensure proper interoperability of
Microsoft's proposed re-archiving standard OOXML with the global
information standard ODF.

[1].http://nlnet.nl
[2].http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=43485
[3].http://www.OpenDocSociety.org

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*** Note to editors


This press release is online here:

       http://nlnet.nl/news/2008/20080116-theme-odf.html

Some additional information and projects NLnet is involved in
can be found here:

       http://www.nlnet.nl/news/2008/20080117-themes.html

Media contacts:

Michiel Leenaars
Strategy Manager NLnet
+31 6 27 050 947
m.leenaars at nlnet.nl

About NLnet Foundation

NLnet Foundation is a widely respected private charity fund supporting
open standards and open source worldwide, and has over the years
actively contributed to (internet) standards, open source projects and
subsidiary or enabling activities such as the development of GPLv3.
NLnet foundation is an independent organisation whose means came
initially from interest on a very substantial own capital formed in 1997
by the sale of the first Dutch Internet Service Provider. Its private
capital ensures an absolute independent position. The articles of
association for the NLnet foundation state: "to promote the exchange of
electronic information and all that is related or beneficial to that
purpose". NLnet believes in open standards and open source. At the
moment, dozens of projects and organizations are supported financially.
Amongst them: research laboratory NLnet Labs, the Free Software
Foundation, ThinkQuest, Intelligent Interactive Distributed Systems, and
the Internet Society.