What is an .odt file?

So I just got this email and there's an .ODT file attached to it.
And honestly? I can't open the damn thing.
I tried downloading some ODT viewer, but every time I try to load it, it just says "failed." Like, seriously?
Then I went ahead and tried converting it to a Google Doc using http://www.zamzar.com, but even that's a total bust—it converts it, sure, but it just gives me a completely blank page.
I have zero clue what program was used to make this file, or how the hell I'm supposed to actually see what's inside.

Maybe you should just ask the person who sent it to you in the first place?

Man, by the time I actually get a reply from him, three days will have already flown by.

You might want to give Apache OpenOffice a shot.

I mean, okay, but I’m still totally lost on what kind of software he actually used to whip that file up.

Yeah, I'm using Apache OpenOffice. 🤔

Honestly, just go ahead and download LibreOffice instead. The crew basically split off from OpenOffice to keep things moving under a new name... much cleaner that way.

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Bryan Fowler7 said:So I just got this email and there's an .ODT file attached to it.
And honestly? I can't open the damn thing.
I tried downloading some ODT viewer, but every time I try to load it, it just says "failed." Like, seriously?
Then I went ahead and tried converting it to a Google Doc using http://www.zamzar.com, but even that's a total bust—it converts it, sure, but it just gives me a completely blank page.
I have zero clue what program was used to make this file, or how the hell I'm supposed to actually see what's inside.

I don't know about older versions of Office, but my Microsoft Office 2016—specifically Microsoft Word 2016—handles .odt files just fine.

Bryan Fowler7 said:I mean, okay, but I’m still totally lost on what kind of software he actually used to whip that file up.

Andrew Peterson2 hit the nail on the head here:

Andrew Peterson2 said:Honestly, just go ahead and download LibreOffice instead. The crew basically split off from OpenOffice to keep things moving under a new name... much cleaner that way.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab via Reddit

Go with Libre. It's free, totally open-source, and doesn't hog your hard drive (only needs about 1.5 GB). It handles all those "open" formats perfectly, plus most Microsoft stuff too. Sure, you might run into some weird formatting glitches or spreadsheet formula hiccups once in a while, but it works. Even plenty of US government agencies and schools are starting to embrace open formats now.

It’s pretty wild when you think about it—the ODT format, like all those other open standards, passed verification and became an official standard with a clear, transparent structure way before Microsoft formats did. And even then, Microsoft eventually forced their ways into those standards. Honestly? It just proves money talks. Most people just stick to what's expensive and ubiquitous because of pure habit. Our own government institutions and school systems end up supporting proprietary software and formats just because they bought a few licenses, essentially draining taxpayer money straight into the pockets of giant corporations. And for what? Mostly just for filling out boring paperwork...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...4-b145a5b2026f

To be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan of OpenOffice, and I really don't see the point in dealing with ODT files... it’s just so much easier to stick to a single, universal standard like DOC or DOCX.

ODT is basically an international standard recognized all over Europe and right here in the States, but honestly... Microsoft doesn't exactly go out of its way to respect it. Sure, they've started playing along a little bit, but they’re still pushing their own proprietary formats—it's just a constant uphill battle trying to get ODT to work smoothly across different office tools, regardless of who actually built them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument

wearycrane15 said:To be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan of OpenOffice, and I really don't see the point in dealing with ODT files... it’s just so much easier to stick to a single, universal standard like DOC or DOCX.

Agreed. Once the DocX library becomes an open source standard where the layout is locked in at the library level, we'll be set. Until then, Accenture...