System News for Sun Users

Open Document Format v 1.1 Available for Public Review

2006-07-31T16:00:00+01:00

As is befitting for a truly open standard, the first revision to the Open Document Format (ODF) -- which was accepted as an international ISO standard (ISO/IEC 26300) last May -- is now available for public review. This revision includes many critical accessibility updates. Comments are being accepted now, closing September 25, 2006.

Open Document Format and Sun's StarOffice Product Implementation

2006-06-19T16:00:00+01:00

While there are many commercial and open source implementations of the Open Document Format (ODF) available, we like to think that our StarOffice product stands out for its functionality and ease of use. You can read more about the various ODF implementations at ConsortiumInfo.

Standards as "Strategic Weapon" for Sun

2006-05-15T16:00:00+01:00

Standards Strategy Ambassador for the Chief Technologists' Office of Sun Microsystems Michelle Aden briefly discusses how IT standards affect innovation in an interview with the International Electrotechnical Commission.

OpenDocument Format Accepted as International Standard

2006-05-10T16:00:00+01:00

Sun is thrilled to announce that the Open Document Format (ODF) has been approved as an international standard. On May 2nd, both ISO and IEC reported their approval of ODF with an overwhelming response and no negative votes from any nation. ODF is now also known as the ISO/IEC 26300 standard.

Excited to Improve Access to Public Records?

2006-05-10T16:00:00+01:00

Join dozens of other companies, trade associations, libraries and open access advocacy groups in the OpenDocument Alliance and help spread the word to your local, state or federal government.

Standardization: Unifier or Divider?

2006-02-20T17:00:00+01:00

An analysis from the December 2005 Standards Edge conference has been posted at http://www.thebolingroup.com/standard_conf.html. This conference, which was co-hosted by Sun Microsystems and Microsoft, was aimed at generating greater understanding by policy makers of the power of IT standards in shaping markets and the public good.

What Exactly Does "Open" Mean?

2006-01-24T17:00:00+01:00

A recent conference in Copenhagen, Denmark found Sun, IBM, Harvard University's Berkman Center, Oracle, Novell and several Danish parliament members discussing the value and meaning of open standards - and agreeing!

Open Standards Discussions Continue with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

2005-12-12T17:00:00+01:00

The discussion in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts about Open Standards for office formats continues. Below is an excerpt from a recent letter from Sun sent to Thomas Trimarco, the Secretary of Massachusetts' Executive Office for Administration and Finance.

Conference Invitation: Are IT Standards a Help or a Hindrance?

2005-10-31T17:00:00+01:00

This December, Sun brings you the next in our series of international conferences on IT industry standardization: "IT Standardization: Unifier or Divider?" This intimate conference will provide a timely exploration of the potentially schismatic effect of IT standardization. Conference co-sponsors include Microsoft and the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology.

And the Winner for the Most Open Standard of 2005 is...

2005-10-10T16:00:00+01:00

Late last month, Sun made an enormously innovative announcement that it hopes will help transform how intellectual property is treated in IT standardization. In a step of inspired leadership, Sun issued a non-assertion covenant for its patents related to the OpenDocument file format standard.

U.S. State of Massachusetts Adopts Open Standard Policy

2005-10-10T16:00:00+01:00

The state of Massachusetts has created a policy of adopting open standards and chose the OpenDocument format in its first decision that supports this new policy. This action by the state of Massachusetts - and numerous other actions by governments around the globe - indicates a significant shift in thinking about the proper role of IT in economic development and social well-being.

Legal Concerns Diminished for Standards Organizations

2005-10-10T16:00:00+01:00

Sun recently co-hosted a conference on technology standardization with the Stanford University law school, titled "Standardization and the Law: Developing the Golden Mean for Global Trade." This conference, part of our Standards Edge series, addressed perceived conflicts between intellectual property and competition law, public policy, standards setting and global trade goals.

Sun Employee Elected Chair of the OASIS Board of Directors

2005-10-10T16:00:00+01:00

Eduardo Gutentag, a member of Sun's Corporate Standards team, was recently re-elected to the OASIS Board of Directors and also elected to chair the organization. Mr. Gutentag was the lead advocate for recent productive changes to the OASIS intellectual property policy.

Are IT Standards Friends or Foes?

2005-09-26T16:00:00+01:00

This December, Sun brings to you the next in its series of international conferences on IT industry standardization: "IT Standardization: Unifier or Divider?" This intimate conference will provide a timely exploration of the potentially schismatic effect of IT standardization. The conference will be held December 5-7, 2005 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Standardization and the Law: Developing the Golden Mean for Global Trade

2005-08-16T16:00:00+01:00

Sun and the Stanford Law School Program in Law, Science & Technology are co-sponsoring a two-day conference entitled "Standardization and the Law: Developing the Golden Mean for Global Trade." Scheduled for September 22-23 at the Stanford University Bechtel Conference Center, this conference will focus on how standards can create a harmonic balance in global trade.

The Standardization Library of Alexandria

2005-05-25T16:00:00+01:00

Sun and ConsortiumInfo have produced an online library on standards. The Standards MetaLibrary is the only public, online source for business, legal, social and international policy issues around technology standards.

Long Live Open Access to Your Own Data!

2005-05-23T16:00:00+01:00

The OpenDocument specification (version 1.0) has been approved as a standard by OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Systems. OpenDocument is a non-proprietary XML file format that allows office productivity documents to be shared, published, edited and stored.

The First Win for Sun-Microsoft Interoperability

2005-05-23T16:00:00+01:00

The first year of joint development between Sun and Microsoft has produced two new draft specifications that enable web single sign-on (SSO) between systems that use web service architectures from the Liberty Alliance and Microsoft. As draft releases, these specifications are offered for review and evaluation.

A Standard Model for Grid Computing in the Enterprise

2005-05-23T16:00:00+01:00

Enterprise Grid Alliance (EGA) Reference Model has just been published. It serves as a focal point for enterprise user requirements and aims to guide grid-related specification development activities across existing standards groups.

Sun and Open Standards

2005-03-30T17:00:00+01:00

Sun presents publications from conference proceedings in a series called The Standards Edge. Get your copy of these limited editions now.

Sun Reelected to WS-I Board of Directors

2005-03-21T17:00:00+01:00

The board of directors for the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) ratified the re-election of Sun's Chief Web Services Strategist Mark Hapner to the board for another two-year term. The WS-I is an open industry organization committed to promoting consistent and reliable interoperability among Web Services across platforms, applications and programming languages.

OASIS Members Approve SAML 2.0 as Standard

2005-03-21T17:00:00+01:00

The Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 has been approved as an OASIS standard by members of this international e-business standards consortium, which Sun is a member. SAML is a standard XML-based framework for the exchange of authentication and authorization information between disparate security domains, enabling vendor-independent Web single sign-on and secure e-business transactions.

Sun and Open Standards

2005-03-04T17:00:00+01:00

OASIS recently announced that all its specifications will be developed under a new intellectual property policy. The clarity of this revised policy creates a more transparent environment in which IT vendors, customers and developers (including open source developers) can collaborate, and we at Sun expect that the revisions will promote growth of open and interoperable solutions.

Standards at Sun

2005-03-04T17:00:00+01:00

From the beginning, Sun Microsystems has base its product strategy on hardware and software standards. These include Berkeley UNIXR, TCP/IP, Ethernet, and the VME bus. Sun long recognized the importance of the Internet and have made it part of its corporate DNA. Sun's commitment to standards continues to attract some of the best standards people in the world.