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ODF 1.2 Part 1 Public Review

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Salt and Fresh-ground Pepper (photo by author)

A major milestone was reached for the OASIS ODF TC today.  The latest Committee Draft of ODF 1.2 Part 1 was sent out for a 60-day public review.

“What does this mean, and why should I care?” you might be asking.  That’s a fair question.

First, a quick review of the OASIS standards approval process.  The stages look like this:

  1. TC creates one or more Working Drafts
  2. A Working Draft may then additionally be approved as a Committee Draft
  3. A Committee Draft may then be additionally approved as a Public Review Draft
  4. After addressing received public comments, a Committee Draft may be approved as a Committee Specification
  5. Finally, a Committee Specification may be voted on by OASIS as an OASIS Standard

There is the possibility of iteration at most of these stages.  So we’re not done with ODF 1.2.   There is still work to be done, but we are certainly in the endgame now.

Also, it is important to remember that ODF 1.2 has been factored into three “parts”:

  • Part 1 specifies the core schema
  • Part 2 is OpenFormula (spreadsheet formulas)
  • Part 3 defines the packaging model of ODF, and went out for public review back in November

Part 1 is by far the largest of the 3 parts, at 838 pages.  Here is a high-level view of what is covered:

  1. Introduction
  2. Scope
  3. Document Structure
  4. Metadata
  5. Text Content
  6. Paragraph Elements Content
  7. Text Fields
  8. Text Indexes
  9. Tables
  10. Graphic Content
  11. Chart Content
  12. Database Front-end Document Content
  13. Form Content
  14. Common Content
  15. SMIL Animations
  16. Styles
  17. Formatting Elements
  18. Datatypes
  19. General Attributes
  20. Formatting Attributes
  21. Document Processing
  22. Conformance
  23. Appendix A.  OpenDocument Relax NG Schema
  24. Appendix B.  OpenDocument Metadata Manifest Ontology
  25. Appendix C.  MIME Types and File Name Extensions (Non Normative)
  26. Appendix E.  Recommend Usage of SMIL
  27. Appendix G.  Acknowledgments (Non Normative)

If any of this interests you I’d encourage you to take a look at the draft and submit comments per the process defined in the public review announcement.  I expect few will review the entire specification, but even if you can review only a chapter of particular interest to you, or even do a random page review, that will help.  We’re looking for any reasonable feedback, from typographical errors, to ambiguities to new feature proposals.  It is all good.

You can follow the incoming comments via the TC’s comment list, or unofficially via the ODFJIRA Twitter feed.

Now, I know that a vigorous public review, with many reviewers and many comments, is seen in some quarters as inconvenient and troublesome.  It is thought better (in those circles) for standards to sail by, unread, unchallenged and unimplemented.  I do not subscribe to that view.  I ask you to not be gentle on the ODF 1.2 public review draft.  Send us a lot of comments, so we know where we need to improve.  Send us a lot of defect reports, so we know what to fix.  Send us a lot of feature proposals, so we know what to do next.  Short of joining the ODF TC directly, this is the best opportunity to give us feedback.

At the Setting of the Sun

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Sunset at First Encounter Beach, Eastham, Massachusetts (photo by Rob Weir)

As my readers have no doubt heard by now, today the EC cleared Oracle’s proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems.  This will undoubtedly have a significant impact on all Sun employees,  many of whom I have worked with toward common purposes, on standards or open source projects, and whom I am proud to call my colleagues.  I wish them all best of luck.

I know a little of what they will be going through in the weeks and months ahead, having worked for Lotus Development Corporation when IBM acquired it in 1995.  So here is my unsolicited advice.  Some day they will come.  It may be in weeks, maybe months from now, maybe early in the morning, maybe after hours or on the weekend.  But that day will come.  They will come and strip the Sun logo from the wall in the lobby and replace it with the Oracle logo. Watch for that day, that narrow window of opportunity.  Save the logo.  It is your trophy, your icon, your totem.  You will always be Sun.  Don’t let them take it away.

The Duel: A curious mathematical puzzle

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Captain Galaxy and Commander Glarcon are locked in mortal combat.   Each mans a battle tank armed with N photonic missiles which move at the speed of light.   They move toward each other at constant velocity=v on a 1-dimensional track, unable to stop or reverse direction.  Assume v << c.  The probability of scoring a kill with a missile is described by a function f(d) which monotonically increases from 0 to 1 as the distance between the tanks decreases from infinity to 0.  If the distance closes to 0 and no missiles are fired, both tanks are destroyed in the collision.    Assume each combatant attempts to maximize their own probability of survival.

Note that this is not strictly a zero-sum game, since it is possible for neither player to survive.  But it is impossible for both to survive.

The state of the game is thus described by three variables:

  • d=distance between the players
  • N1= number of own missiles remaining
  • N2= number of opponent’s missiles remaining

A strategy S(d,N1,N2) would describe a combatant’ actions (shoot or don’t shoot) for all possible states.

  1. If each player has exactly one missile what is the optimal strategy?  Clearly, if the first player shoots and misses, the 2nd will win by waiting for d to approach 0 and then make a last minute shot.
  2. What if each player has exactly two missiles?
  3. What if each player has N missiles?

It may simplify the problem to assume f(d) is proportionate to 1/d or 1/d^2 and then solve the general case.

Top 10 Seed and Plant Catalogs for New England

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The ground in my part of New England is blanketed in snow, and will remain so for most of the next 3 months. The temperature ranges from cold to frigid. It is hard to think of spring, but now is the time when the garden planning begins, when I start making lists of plants to buy, drawing plot diagrams, calculating sowing times, and anticipating, in my mind, the eventual blooms of summer and the harvest of next fall.

This is also the time when my mailbox fills up with catalogs from plantsmen and nurseries, offering new plant cultivars, rediscovered heirloom varieties and all manner of new garden gadgets.  When possible I prefer to support local nurseries.  Their plants are chosen to be well-adapted for my regional conditions.  Of course, the downside is that if you buy locally, then you’ll be buying the same plants as your neighbors, and who wants to have their landscaping look the same as everyone else on the street?

[amazon_link asins=’1591866413,1937644146,1519671202,1591866103,1604694211′ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’ananticdispos-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’be4df725-0c53-11e9-ae27-0776fe402fa4′]

Of the dozens of seed and plant catalogs I receive every winter, there are a few that I return to year after year, the ones where I find the immense variety I crave,  as well as high quality service.  The following is my “top 10 list” of seed and plant catalogs suitable for New England:

  1. Fedco Seeds (Maine)   Their new 137 page catalog covers seeds, tubers and organic growing supplies.  The emphasis is on hardy and short-season varieties suitable for northern gardens.
  2. Nourse Farms (Massachusetts) Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries live plants, including new introductions.  They are my first choice for berries.
  3. Territorial Seed Company (Oregon)  Very informative catalog, 167 pages, should be a model for others.  Clearly indicates which seeds are open pollinated, which are F1 hybrids, which are organic, disease resistance, days to maturity, etc.   Most seeds are available in different packet sizes, ranging from small samplers to larger packets for small commercial growers.
  4. Artistic Gardens / Le Jardin du Gourmet (Vermont)   Their 50 Sample Herb Packet Special is a regular annual purchase for me.  At any other seed company you pay $3 or so for a packet containing enough basil seeds for a pesto factory.  Total overkill for a small garden, and expensive if you want to plant a wide variety of herbs.   But for a very reasonable price Le Jardin du Gourmet offers a bundle of  50 herb seed packets, each very small, but providing “just enough” seeds for my small garden.  You have no control over the variety, so if you absolutely must have Genovese Basil, this is not for you, but in turn for giving up control over the variety you get large selection of culinary and traditional medicinal herbs for a very reasonable price.  I find it also gets me to grow herbs I might not otherwise try, like lovage or horehound.
  5. Seed Savers Exchange (Iowa) This is the open source project of the seed world.  Individual amateur gardeners and small farms preserving 12,613 varieties of heirloom, ethnic and unique vegetable varieties, growing from seed, and harvesting and preserving the seed to pass on to the next year.  The resulting huge diversity of seeds are shared with members for the cost of postage. The variety is staggering.  If they don’t have it,  it probably doesn’t exist (or is protected by a plant patent).  A subset of the most popular heirloom varieties is for sale on their website, but to get the full phonebook-thick catalog of member-offered seeds, you need to join.
  6. White Flower Farm (Connecticut)  The catalog, fully photographed in luscious detail, is a feast for the eyes.  Strong on perennials (herbaceous and woody) and bulbs.  I use it as much to generate ideas as I do for ordering.
  7. Johnny’s Selected Seeds (Maine)  I go to Johnny’s especially for their new vegetable variety introductions.  For example, they introduced “Bright Lights” Swiss chard, one of my favorites.   Their catalog always has something new to look forward to.
  8. Raintree Nursery (Washington) If you want something unusual in the fruit department, this is where to go.  From medlars to hardy kiwi to saskatoons, they have it.  Their catalog has also the cultural information you need to be successful, including recommendations on compatible pollinators.
  9. Bluestone Perennials (Ohio) Along with the White Flower Farm catalog, this is my main source for perennials.  The PlantFinder search engine on their website is great for finding plants for a special niche, like “Zone 6 hardy, deer resistant groundcovers with blue flowers”.
  10. Totally Tomato (Wisconsin)  The name says it all.  If you want a specific tomato variety and no substitute will do, this is the place to go.  For example, their catalog lists 41 different cherry tomato varieties.  This is the “long tail” of the lycopersicum world.

Top 10 Blog Posts of 2009

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The 2009 wall calendar is now tossed in recycling bin, and I look to 2010 with renewed energy and dedication.  But I did want to take once last parting look at 2009, from the perspective of this blog’s server logs.

Top Blog Posts

  1. Update on ODF Spreadsheet Interoperability (May 2009)
  2. ODF Lies and Whispers (June 2009)
  3. A Game of Zendo (July 2006)
  4. A follow-up on Excel 2007 SP2’s ODF support (May 2009)
  5. The Final OOXML Update: Part I (October 2009)
  6. The Formats of Excel 2007 (January 2007)
  7. The Final OOXML Update: Part III (October 2009)
  8. Taking Control of Your Documents March 2009)
  9. The Battle for ODF Interoperability (May 2009)
  10. The Chernobyl Design Pattern (October 2006)

Top Browsers

  • Firefox: 57.3%
  • Internet Explorer: 22.9%
  • Safari: 5.2%
  • Mozilla 4.7%
  • Chrome: 3.8%
  • Opera: 3.4%
  • Mobile (various browsers): 1.4%
  • Konqueror :1.3%

Top Operating Systems

  • Windows: 62.1%
  • Linux 26.8%
  • Mac 9.7%
  • Mobile 1.4%