Updates on Flash support for Linux

Posted Apr 19, 2012 5:27 UTC (Thu) by rsidd (subscriber, #2582)
Parent article: Updates on Flash support for Linux

The argument generally goes along the lines of "users are better off without Flash, and everything that Flash does now will soon be replaced by HTML5." Unfortunately, open source advocates have been saying that for years and Flash is still pervasive. It would be betting against history for Linux companies to assume that Flash support will soon be an issue of the past using any reasonable definition of "soon."

Though it may be betting against history, I see it happening already -- thanks, oddly enough, to the late Steve Jobs and his hostility to flash. (And flash doesn't work great on Android either.) You can't argue with millions of iPhone and iPad owners.

Updates on Flash support for Linux

Posted Apr 19, 2012 7:33 UTC (Thu) by ncm (guest, #165) [Link]

... because if you try to argue, they will just sneer at you.

Updates on Flash support for Linux

Posted Apr 19, 2012 8:17 UTC (Thu) by drago01 (subscriber, #50715) [Link] (3 responses)

Well by moving to HTML5 you'd loose more users then you gain (smartphones and tablets), secondly at least on smartphones people tend to accept that not everything on a webpage work.

The only thing that really matters here is video (and probably audio). But all other uses of flash will stay this way for the foreseeable future. (Not that I like that but that's unfortunately the reality).

The hype aside the market share of the iPad (compared to other web clients) is at 2.13% [1] which is almost irrelevant compared to windows based systems.

1: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-s...

Updates on Flash support for Linux

Posted Apr 19, 2012 9:16 UTC (Thu) by ibukanov (subscriber, #3942) [Link] (2 responses)

Mozilla started seriously to consider to require click to play in Firefox by default for plugins including Flash and Java to prevent attacks trough unpatched binaries. AFAIK Google considers that for Chrome as well. That can be well the last thing necessary to rid the Web from Flash.

Updates on Flash support for Linux

Posted Apr 19, 2012 9:19 UTC (Thu) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link] (1 responses)

I can't imagine that somebody still browses the Web without NoFlash/Flashblock.

Updates on Flash support for Linux

Posted Apr 19, 2012 9:27 UTC (Thu) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link]

Then you probably need to stop taking the optimism enhancers.