Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 21:43:51 -0500 From: Derek Graham <derek.graham@att.net> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Flashplugin Message-ID: <200806072143.52051.derek.graham@att.net> In-Reply-To: <E891374F64B9194FB5BFFF28935811CA02A3EF1B@namail2.corp.adobe.com> References: <200806071500.28001.derek.graham@att.net> <slrng4m4k7.1tqn.jaj@nirvana.my.domain> <E891374F64B9194FB5BFFF28935811CA02A3EF1B@namail2.corp.adobe.com>
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on Saturday 07 June 2008Saturday 07 June 2008 Tobias Hoellrich "Tobias Hoellrich" <thoellri@adobe.com> wrote: > [Disclaimer: I work for Adobe Systems. I have nothing to do with the > Flash Player. I'm a grunt who works on other stuff. This is my personal > opinion as a long-time FreeBSD user and I'm not making any statements > for Adobe.] > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org > > [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Jona Joachim > > Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 4:58 PM > > To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org > > Subject: Re: Flashplugin > > > > Flash is a big pain IMO. > > The Flash question has been asked *a lot* of times on this list. > > The answer usually boils down to "use www/nspluginwrapper" or "use > > linux-firefox". Both "solutions" are far from optimal. > > My solution is to simply ignore Flash content. It makes your > > "online experience" > > much more enjoyable. This is my personal choice of course. > > I'm afraid that's the age-old question of demand. If there was enough > demand out there, I'm sure that any software manufacturer would consider > FreeBSD a platform that needs to be supported. > Providing support for the Flash Player on FreeBSD is not a one-shot > thing. You don't have some summer intern create a port of the current > version of the player, release it and then be done with it. If a > platform is officially supported it means dedication of a lot of > resources: engineering and especially testing. Once a platform is > adopted it needs to be rev'ed whenever the other platforms are updated, > otherwise you end up again in a situation where a certain application > that requires new Flash Player features does not work for you. This all > means time and money. Adobe as any other public company has to justify > its actions to its shareholders. If anybody scrutinizes the books and > sees a substantial amount of engineering and QA resources being > dedicated to a platform that has very little desktop market penetration > and because of that some other important high-reach features were > dropped, I'm sure that public company would have to answer some > questions about it. > > Since the last discussion I actually contacted the Flash Player team and > asked what it would take to get an official port for Flash Player on > FreeBSD. I was asked to provide numbers that would indicate how many > *desktop* FreeBSD systems are out there and how many of them are used on > a *regular* basis. So, if anybody on this list can provide those > answers, I'd be more than happy to do my part and relay the answers back > to those people who can actually influence decisions in this area. > Again, I'm not speaking for Adobe, I'm just offering to help as much as > I can as a happy FreeBSD user (well, if it wasn't for > http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=123735 on 8.0-CURRENT). > > > I think it is rather reducing when you have to beg unkind > > vendors to eventually > > consider that you exist. > > I don't think proprietary binary formats have their place on > > the web. The WWW is > > an information exchange platform, why would you want to > > diffuse information > > around the globe when you know that a lot of people will not > > be able to decipher > > it? It's a bit arrogant I think. > > That's simply wrong. The Flash format byte-code is *not* proprietary. If > you want to, you can go ahead and create your own Flash Player. The > specifications for the format are freely available at: > http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/developers/ > > And Gnash (http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/), which was started before > the spec was available, will certainly benefit from this. > > And to address a previous message: if your bank requires you to use the > Flash Player to make a transaction, then you will need to get in touch > with your bank and not blame it on the non-existence of the Flash Player > on your platform. A disabled person with a text-only browser or a > screen-reader will certainly have the same issues. > > My offer stands: if anybody can provide the numbers above, I'm going to > forward them to the right people and work things from my end. > > Don't beat me up, I'm for the support - even if I'm not using FreeBSD as > a desktop OS. > > Thanks and happy weekend - Tobias > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to > "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" FreeBSD is my one and only desktop, I run a small business and do not tend to like to switch back and forth from os's mainly cause i use sql-ledger and it is my main server to keep up with my bookkeeping. My wifes pc was using pc-bsd but lack of flash made her goto kubuntu Sincerely, Derek A. Graham President D and M Computers, Inc. Exceeding your expectations everyday! http://www.dandmcomputers.co.cc/ (847) 305-1954 ext 101
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