OpenDocument (short for OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications) is:

  • An open, XML-based file format.
  • An open standard from the OASIS standards group.
  • Approved by ISO and IEC as an international standard (ISO/IEC 26300).
  • The default file format for OpenOffice.org 2.0, KOffice 1.5, StarOffice 8, IBM Workplace and other applications.
  • The required office format for internal archives of the US State of Massachusetts.
  • A format that fulfills the European Union’s criteria on open standards.

See OpenDocument Fellowship and the ODF Alliance for more information.

Petition

Request Apple support for Open Document Format

Apple released their latest iWork suite - Pages (word processor), Keynote (presentation) and Numbers (spreadsheet) on 7 August. All support OOXML and not ODF.
This petition asks Apple to support ODF as well.

Recommended reading on OpenDocument

We put together a collection of papers for our display at the OASIS Open Standards 2006 conference in Sydney 25-27 October 2006. Formats available: ODF , PDF

Friends of OpenDocument Inc
OpenDocument Fellowship
  About OpenDocument Format - An Introduction (from ODF Alliance)
OpenDocument for Libraries and Archives (from OpenDocument Fellowship)
White paper – OASIS/ISO OpenDocument Format: Using open standards to promote competition and close the digital divide (from OpenDocument Fellowship)
  Why ODF? The Importance of the OpenDocument Format for Governments (from ODF Alliance)
  Refuting the Myths about ODF (from ODF Alliance)

If you don’t have a program that reads OpenDocument files, get the Get the ODF Viewer (Beta) here!