Flash is more than toys [LWN.net]

Flash is more than toys

Posted Jan 12, 2006 14:41 UTC (Thu) by jquinn (guest, #605)
In reply to: Flash is more than toys by smoogen
Parent article: Flash players for Linux

Flash is more than just animation and graphics and sound too. I don't see much mention in any of these comments about Flash Remoting.

I use Flash Remoting extensively at work. I don't use animations much. Rather I create forms and communicate with a back end, in my case a J2EE server. Flash can use Java objects (POJO or EJBs), Web Services, or .Net/C# objects.

In this area, it's a lot like AJAX. Flash has two advantages over AJAX: ubiquity and robustness. It has one major disadvantage: freedom.

The ubiquity can be attested to by the fact that there are so many ads that use it, and by the fact that the Open Source world sees it as an itch that needs scratching. Arguably though, Flash is more WORA than Javascript. (This is mainly due to a certain browser manufacturer's inability to comply with standards). Robustness involvesd the animation/audio/video apabilites. The main disadvantage, freedom, the ability to create content on free platforms, is being addressed by Flash4Linux, but slowly.

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Freedom requires an open spec

Posted Jan 13, 2006 23:29 UTC (Fri) by nealmcb (subscriber, #20740) [Link]

"The main disadvantage, freedom, the ability to create content on free platforms, is being addressed by Flash4Linux, but slowly. "

But the spec is still controlled by a proprietary company, right?
It is hard to experience much freedom when someone else can change the rules at any time. On the other hand, the SVG spec is under the change-control of W3c - a much freer situation. Why play the bait-and-switch and bait-and-switch game over and over? Open formats are critical.