I wish flash would die!

[Void Main]

It's a sad day. The official release of v9 of the flash player was released for Linux today. Well, x86 Linux only, this is not for you x86_64, PPC, Sparc, Alpha, etc Linux users. The only effect this will have is to quiet the complaining from us Linux folks to web sites who use flash and in turn foster more flash content on the web. Why is this bad you ask? Because the flash player is proprietary, only works on certain versions of operating systems and the LICENSE is unacceptable to me. Here is an example snippet (Web Player = flash plugin):

Code: Select all

    3. Restrictions.
       3.1  Web Player Prohibited Devices. You may not Use any Web Player on
       any  non-PC  device  or with any embedded or device version of any
       operating system. For the avoidance of doubt, and by example only, you
       may not use a Web Player on any (a) mobile devices, set top boxes (STB),
       handhelds, phones, web pads, tablets and Tablet PCs that are not running
       Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, game consoles, TVs, DVD players, media
       centers (excluding Windows XP Media Center Edition and its successors),
       electronic billboards or other digital signage, internet appliances or
       other internet-connected devices, PDAs, medical devices, ATMs, telematic
       devices,  gaming machines, home automation systems, kiosks, remote
       control  devices,  or  any  other consumer electronics device, (b)
       operator-based mobile, cable, satellite, or television systems or (c)
       other closed system devices.


It is sad that people don't wake up. Just more lock-in and more internet content being reigned in by a small few which is not how the Internet started out and not how the internet should be. Internet is about free flow of information without discrimination. It is about open standards and protocols.

[worker201]

Hasn't Flash's license always been like that? They're not going to give away their player for commercial use. This particular snippet proves that - they are basically restricting it to personal PCs.

I guess there has been some effort to get an open source player out there, but it hasn't been very popular, for various reasons. One is that some of the corporate backers behind much Linux development are wary of offending market giant Adobe. Another is the dismissal of Flash by some users. The overall outlook seems to be "who cares about dumb old flash anyway?" Which is fine. But a lot of people like Flash, and even more people like the internet, which in turn seems to like Flash. So as home users migrate toward Linux, mainstream developers are going to follow them. I guess the only thing we can do is to roll out a replacement.

Actually, Linux could probably use a good Flash-like (the exMacromedia animation program) development environment. I've always loved Flash's drawing tools and the simplicity of the animation process. Having something like that in Linux would be great. It's my opinion that if Linux users want to kick at Flash, they have to kick at the whole totem pole, from top to bottom. If you catch my meaning. An open source player for proprietary content is kinda lazy. An open source player that plays open source content and is compatible with proprietary content, well that's profound.

[Void Main]

No, they are telling me in that snippet that I can run the flash plugin on my Linux PC but I can't run it on my Linux tablet. If I want to run it on my tablet I have to be using Windows XP Tablet edition. That's a crock of oops.

[Calum]

how is it that wine exists and yet nothing comparable apparently exists for shockwave and flash?

[Calum]

ok, closed source windows programs can run under linux using an alternative open source software known as wine (or i believe cedega). why do we have to use the proprietary flash player (analogy, proprietary OS: windows) to view flash stuff, and cannot view shockwave content in linux? is there no project designed to create an open source alternative to these things? even if we want to use files designed for windows, we don't need to use windows to run them, so why do we need the macromedia (or is it adobe) software to view the files for that format? there are tons of programs to access other proprietary formats, like pdf or doc, why not swf?

[Calum]

that is not fair! i answered a question which you have since deleted, now i look like i am talking to myself!

[Void Main]

Sorry! I wrote a response and then deleted it right away because I understood what you meant. I didn't know you were actually online and responding to it already! :) Sorry, I can delete these two as well if you want. :)

[Calum]

no you're alright, sometimes i enjoy talking to myself!

[worker201]

There are open source players out there:
http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/
is probably the best one.

But this project doesn't seem to get as much attention as some others, and last I heard, it's pretty incompatible at this stage of its development.