"This is an automatically generated reply.

The document you have sent is in Microsoft* Office file format, a proprietary and ever-changing document format that does not conform to Open standards. This format is used as a vehicle for worms and trojans that affect computers running the same software and/or computers using the Microsoft operating systems.

I am trying to keep my data safe and secure as possible and hence decided not to use Microsoft's operating systems or Office productivity suites. I also refuse to open any attachments in Microsoft's Office file format.

Kindly convert the file to ASCII text, HTML or PDF. Do NOT presume that everybody is using Microsoft Office.

Thank you.

*Microsoft is a criminal company that has been found guilty of antitrust violations by both the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals"

Now that the Open Document Format (ODF) is a recognized international standard as ISO 26300. I prefer receiving documents in PDF or ODF. :)

I am just pissed by the fact that almost everyone assumes that you have a copy (legit or otherwise) of Microsoft Office. This is simply not fair - I mean, how would you feel if I send out all documents in my own format and require you to buy an application to open it? It is like having your data hostaged - something like having it encrypted with the encryption algorithm and keys held at a ransom. Yes, it is not dissimilar and it is called vendor lock-in.

You will argue that the MS Office file format is the most prevalent file format out there. There is no argument from me there. I often get this argument even from one of the local partners of a large IT company in the US, who ironically, is the single largest contributor to the most popular ODF-compliant open source office productivity suite available in the market today (hint, it is *not* Star Office hehee). Funny how they should be promoting their ODF-compliant product but instead doing nothing about it. Shesh! Anyhow, numbers do not necessarily mean that it is the best out there - otherwise, there will no innovation. :)

Apart from being an international standard, ODF has a simple structure that anybody with a simple ASCII text editor can extract information from the file without even installing a separate software just to open it. Whilst it may be an unpleasant experience trying to decipher the XML-formatted document, at least you can still read the contents. Compare that to an all-binary file format - I challenge you to decode it using a simple ASCII text editor! hehehe...

It is true that Microsoft is migrating to their new XML-based Office file format. This means that before you can use that, you need to purchase a license from Microsoft and worse, you *may* need to upgrade your computer hardware to make it run. The thing is, that XML-based file format is *not* an internationally recognized document file format like the Open Document Format.

I agree that it is difficult to migrate from one format to another but I must say that it is better to do it now and shift to a future-proof Open standard than being locked in to a single vendor. For starters, I think the government should spearhead this initiative. Have all documents in both formats, as starters. Standardize on both MS Office and ODF file formats and gradually moving towards ODF, of course. These, however, should only apply to forms that citizens need to accomplish or documents that need to be edited collaboratively. Otherwise, use PDF, another Open standard document format.

I hope that one of the largest supporter of Open Systems/Open Standards/Open Source in the country, the University of the Philippines, will provide the spark that will, hopefully, become a bush fire and sweep the entire bureaucrazy. :D

To assist you in migrating, you can download ODF-compliant applications such as OpenOffice.org (Windows, Linux and Mac), NeoOffice (Mac), KOffice (Windows, Linux and Mac), AbiWord (Windows, Linux and Mac). You can even use Google's online word processor, Writely.

So what are you waiting for? FREE your documents! Convert them to an international and open standard file format! The next time someone sends you an e-mail attachment that contains MS Office file, do not open it (practice safe hex), dump it and request for a more open file format. If you need help, just send me an email. :)