Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 1st May 2008 12:44 UTC
Just yesterday Mozilla Europe's Tristan Nitot predicted that Adobe might open source Flash one day if competition from Microsoft's Silverlight got too fierce. It seems as if he can look into the future, as today Adobe has announced the Open Screen Project. While not exactly an open source announcement, it does open the door a little bit more.
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Member since:
2005-07-24
The FAQ has some good questions.
http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/faq/
Allow me help them answer a few of them:
What is the Open Screen Project?
The Open Screen Project is our desperate attempt to preserve our market share in the face of almost certain doom. Microsoft has expressed an interest in helping users enjoy a rich multimedia experience on line, and we know that means we're toast. Think of us as the woman in the horror film who runs 5 steps and then falls down before the ear piercing scream and the camera going black.
What is the mission of the Open Screen Project?
To save our asses. Acknowledging long tradition, we understand that Open Source is where dying companies go to die. Like the cancer victim who denies his condition and refuses to seek medical assistance until it is too late, we have held out on opening our formats until after our fate was already sealed, thus ensuring a lot of hype, followed by bad publicity for Open Source when we fail.
What is Adobe doing in support of the Open Screen Project?
We have set up a web site and issued a press release.
Why is Adobe spearheading this project?
Why does the woman from question #1 still struggle and try to push the monster away, even after it is clear that she's worm food in training?
Why are companies participating in the Open Screen Project?
We're turning on the hype faucets full blast, calling in a bunch of favors, and are paying some of them under the table to appear to be interested.
Is the Open Screen Project a technology announcement?
No. The Open Screen Project is a function of our PR department.
Why is Adobe continuing to open access to Flash technology?
What else can we do?
What other open efforts does Adobe participate in?
Does throwing Dmitry Sklyarov in jail for a month, and detaining him in a foreign country for 4 months, by invoking the DMCA count?
Edited 2008-05-01 13:49 UTC