Marcus Harris wrote:
[quoting me, but dishonourably removing the attribution]
Flash is pain and should hopefully go the way of the dodo very soon, if html5 <video> with open formats takes off. BBC are being nudged to use <video> more (I think it's already available on iPlayer for Apple - and a BBC news site redesign is coming soon) and it can't happen soon enough.
[...]
Web functionality that otherwise would require some other client software than the browser - lots of video, access to webcams and stuff is only really available to users on GNU/Linux at this point because we have a Flash player that works, [...]
Most GNU/Linux *platforms* don't have a Flash player that works. Take the i386/ia64 blinkers off and show some solidarity with the full range of systems which would be used if it was a fair fight.
Whilst it might be nice to see a future where everyone's browser is playing them ogg audio/video, isn't the reality likely to be some thin wrappers for Apple or Microsoft's formats and DRM and so on?
I don't think that's likely, but how would that be much worse than now? Isn't Flash just a thin wrapper for a proprietary format and DRM and so on?
I still think <video> and good browser support can't happen too soon.
[...]
In this sense Adobe (like nvidia, and id, and so on) has done something to support and foster Linux usage. It has taken them a little time and work and therefore cost them some money.
And so they must think it will make them more money, because Adobe is a private-sector company whose executives are required to maximise shareholder return. They can't develop stuff purely for the sake of justice, equality and the good of humanity! They can do it if they believe taking the edge off Linux-related demand (by supporting some of the most common types) reduces the risk of a Flash-killer being developed by smart Linux hackers and eating their lunch.
Yes, it's evil and proprietary and stuff, but it works for Linux users through conscious effort - and in the absence of a 1) viable and 2) widely adopted open source alternative. [...]
It works for some users, but it looks like a viable and widely-adopted alternative may be coming at last.
Regards,