Flash for Linux -- It's Not for Users

Flash for Linux -- It's Not for Users

Posted Feb 17, 2007 5:53 UTC (Sat) by k8to (subscriber, #15413)
In reply to: Flash for Linux -- It's Not for Users by wookey
Parent article: Flash for Linux -- It's Not for Designers (internetnews.com)

The platforms took too long to deploy friendly, well working, universally installed browser plugins for video formats.

You can blame this largely on turf wars over formats, patents, imprecise specifications and so on. Macromedia/Adobe, who was getting their little bundle of binaries installed pretty much everywhere somehow (by default? not sure, but certainly it shows up on most web-enabled computers), added a video format and provided a way to create "reliable" user interfaces for it. When I say "reliable" I mean that the interface can be expected to be the same on the computers on which it works at all, which some people value (I do not).

In short, Microsoft, Apple, Real and others all failed due to stupidity and roadblocks, and Macromedia/Adobe succeeded by setting the bar a bit lower.

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