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Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

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Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#41

Post by beaumartinez »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #8
rdtsc wrote: post #7

They in a bit of a difficult situation. Since there are so many mobile devices and so many of them are iPhones, anyone building websites will try to steer away from using Flash. So Flash is dying, fast. The best they could have done is to completely open source it. Open source the spec fully, the players and the server. But even then, frankly it is too late. There are standards worked on that will completely replace…

Yes, that would make the most sense. There are plenty of designers who like to use flash because they are familiar with the toolset, what they need is to use the same tools with a different output format. Of course the killer app that is missing from HTMl5/JS seems to support for stuff like webcams/mics and being able to stream in realtime. That and of course Internet Explorer staying years behind everyone else.

Hopefully Mozilla's WebAPI[1] will bring us those.

[1] https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebAPI

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#42

Post by donteflon »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #5

So, what does flash actually run on these days? Windows desktop PCs & laptops, on Mac desktops & laptops (for how much longer?) and that's about it. Well , looks like everyone should sharpen up those JS skills.

It runs in desktop web browsers on Windows, Mac and Linux (soon only hosted in Chrome, but it will be there). It runs on iOS, MacOS, Windows, Android and Blackberry with Adobe Air and it's far better, faster and easier to develop for than any Javascript/HTML5 alternative. If you want to get a clue about how is Flash doing lately, just browse Flash Daily from time to time.

[1] http://flashdaily.net

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#43

Post by njharman »

icebraining wrote: post #17
jiggy2011 wrote: post #5

So, what does flash actually run on these days? Windows desktop PCs & laptops, on Mac desktops & laptops (for how much longer?) and that's about it. Well , looks like everyone should sharpen up those JS skills.

You do realize that those clients represent ~89% of all web usage, right?

Really, all smartphones, all tablets, all Linux is only 11%? I'm very doubtful and won't believe it without citation.

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#44

Post by icebraining »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #30
icebraining wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize that those clients represent ~89% of all web usage, right?

That may well be true right now but of course we are in a time of transition right now and Adobe seems to be burning rather too many bridges. If adobe wanted their runtime to survive (I'm not sure they do) they would be showing commitment to supporting their runtime in as many places as possible. Right now the only place it really runs well is on Windows which means they are quite firmly shackled to Microsoft and it'…

I think it's pretty clear MS does not, since Flash doesn't work on IE 10 on Windows 8 using the default UI (Metro).

My guess is that Adobe has given up on the runtime and is cutting costs while investing in the authoring tools (which is where they make their money anyway) for HTML5.

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#45

Post by icebraining »

njharman wrote: post #43
icebraining wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize that those clients represent ~89% of all web usage, right?

Really, all smartphones, all tablets, all Linux is only 11%? I'm very doubtful and won't believe it without citation.

The number is from StatCounter: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_vs_desktop-ww-monthly-2011...

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#46

Post by jlarocco »

dfc wrote: post #28
jlarocco wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's nice of you, but honestly I doubt this will have a very big impact. Flash support has been poor on Linux for a very long time. For example, 64-bit Linux desktops have been popular for most of the last decade, and I'm not sure there's ever been an official 64-bit release. Sure, it's been possible to get it working, but it's a hassle. The poor Linux support is one of the main reasons so many Linux users dislike…

FYI: Flash for 64bit linux has existed for a while now. The first release was sometime around the financial crisi, I think october of 2008.

Yeah, I know it exists. And before it existed you could hack up the 32-bit Flash to work in 64-bit browsers.

The point is, it being a PITA to use Flash on Linux never stopped many developers from creating pages that required it, so it's unlikely to stop them from creating Flash pages now.

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#47

Post by ktizo »

jlarocco wrote: post #46
dfc wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI: Flash for 64bit linux has existed for a while now. The first release was sometime around the financial crisi, I think october of 2008.

Yeah, I know it exists. And before it existed you could hack up the 32-bit Flash to work in 64-bit browsers. The point is, it being a PITA to use Flash on Linux never stopped many developers from creating pages that required it, so it's unlikely to stop them from creating Flash pages now.

Is a trajectory issue. When flash was expanding the range of systems it could be run on, then the future looked rosy for it as a delivery platform.

Currently however it seems to be contracting on all fronts, while at the same time adobe is making life more difficult for the developers by giving them extra costs. So the trajectory really does not look good at this point.

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#48

Post by viraptor »

batista wrote: post #34
infinitivium wrote: post #2

Adobe fails to make any headlines that indicate they have any clue at all

Well, on the positive side all the reviews for the new Photoshop CS6 have been quite glowing. A major new version, indeed. Lightroom 4 was also a very good update. Oh, and Premiere is in the right track. Killing Flash is best for Adobe in the long term. That, more refinement for their CS suite, and some new HTML5 tools like Edge will keep them afloat for many years to come.

With every new edition of Adobe products we get more posts on http://adobegripes.tumblr.com/ to enjoy :)

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#49

Post by jiggy2011 »

icebraining wrote: post #45
njharman wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really, all smartphones, all tablets, all Linux is only 11%? I'm very doubtful and won't believe it without citation.

The number is from StatCounter: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_vs_desktop-ww-monthly-2011...

That does seem surprisingly low, but let's assume it is that correct.

According to stat counter , mobile usage in Jan 2010 was 1.56%, by Dec 2010 it was 4.1%. By Feb 2012 8.53%.

That's an astonishing growth to have roughly doubled in a year. Although the growth proportionally is less than in 2010 which might suggest that there is some slow down.

Big companies like adobe need to plan for the long term, even if "mobile" peaks at 30% + all the people running Windows 8 using Metro + all the Linux users.

That's certainly a big enough base of non-flashers for any web developer to seriously think twice about using it for anything.

Re: Adobe Releases Last Linux Version Of Flash Player

#50

Post by lparry »

shad0wfax wrote: post #6

I cannot see how they can be serious about Flash if they are going to ignore Linux. It makes sense from Adobe's point of view, because the adoption on Linux is minimal, but for someone creating content on flash (for example - for video, games, or even some old school websites), this is just making it harder. Now these content creators have to worry about their clients on Linux platform. Adobe might as well say that F…

"Now these content creators have to worry about their clients on Linux platform."

The sort of content creators who care about this (ie good ones) already had to worry about the tens of millions of ios devices out there. Linux is barely a blip on the content consumption radar

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