OT: Is .RTF an Open Standard?

[Kent West <westk@nicanor.acu.edu>]

I'm trying to educate some users on the dangers of proprietary file 
formats. But to make sure I've got my facts right, I need to ask: Is the 
Rich Text Format (.rtf) an open standard? (In other words, can I say 
something like "Use an open standard format, like .RTF"? Or do I need to 
say "Use a less proprietary format like .RTF"? I would prefer to say the 
first one.) I understand it was developed by Microsoft, but is it owned 
by Microsoft? Do I understand that there are actually two different .RTF 
formats?

Is there a true open standard format, that is easily 
created/used/editted on any platform, other than text? (Text (ASCII? - 
and what's the difference between DOS ASCII and Windows ASCII, and Text 
ASCII, etc?) would be ideal, except for the inability to do such things 
as bold, font color, etc).

Thanks for any comments!

Kent


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