Already available for the Windows and Macintosh platforms, the new Macromedia Flash Player 7 for Linux is available for download and will be automatically bundled with the next batch of Linux systems distributed by Novell, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, and Turbolinux.
“We wanted to make sure that Flash Player 7 for Linux would give the same performance standards as our other versions,”
If they are referring to their Windows Flash Player 7, then the linux crowd should be expecting a buggy piece of software.
Pardon me if I’m wrong (this is an honest, innocent question) but wouldn’t this be the only proprietory application in Redhat? I thought they were 100% Open Source…
Looking at this page: http://www.macromedia.com/support/shockwave/info/licensing/
it seems that Fedora would not be able to distribute it. When they are refering to redhat, they are probably refering to RH’s new commercial desktop offering that comes with the JVM etc…
Thanks Macromedia! I’ve always had performance problems with Flash on Linux so I can’t wait to try this one out.
I’m thinking this was done in part because of Macromedia’s FLEX and RIA’s. Coldfusion I believe is already written in Java. Linux is strong in servers, and Macromedia needs to be on both ends in order for it to work.
it’s the proprietary aspect of Flash that bothers me most; BTW these news sound just like a press release from Macromedia, I also find that somewhat bothersome.
Good news!
Hope Adobe will port its 6.0Reader to Linux too.
Don’t like current 5.0 implementation.
and it still doesn’t work on PPC
it’s the proprietary aspect of Flash that bothers me most;
So you prefer some other open web animation format that’s installed in 95% of browsers?
SWF has been an open spec since, oh, 1998. Download it yourself if you want …
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/open/licensing/fileformat/
Ah, 1998 … I guess some enterprising FOSS software developer could have beat Macromedia to the punch back then … you know, at a time when there wasn’t even a usable FOSS word processor, web browser or e-mail client, let alone a vector animation platform!
Personally I’m glad Macromedia pays its developers to create and distribute for free the Linux Flash plug-in, without which my Linux machine couldn’t even fully function as a web browser.
And Macromedia is considering porting Flash, Freehand et al. to Linux, starting by working to make sure they all run under Codeweavers. That’s a lot more than you can say for Adobe, Corel, Real, Apple or Microsoft.
no amd64 version either
It’s x86 only.
The best GPL flash player:
http://www.swift-tools.net/Flash/
I was looking at this site:
http://www.sky.com/skyplus/launcher
Is it b0rked for anyone else under linux with Flashplayer 6/7? I had hoped this release would fix things, no joy. I get a big chunk of what looks like a GTK+ widget plastered accross the flash animation???
fedora core 1/2, mozilla firefox
you are bothered by the proprietary aspect of macromedia ? why ? do you only ever use oss on your system ?
There is a place for oss, propretary and commercial products to exist together on linux.
do not cut of your nose to spite your face
for linux to suceed, there is a real need for commercial companies to port their products over, AND, for the linux userbase, (I will not call them a community anymore, as the community is falling apart), to use these products without yapping and moaning about it.
“you are bothered by the proprietary aspect of macromedia ? why ?”
The reason has already been given above: the player works only on x86.
If the source is not available, how can a player be generated for other platforms?
raver31 is right about macromedia.
Personally, I don’t like animated ads in my browser, so I always uninstall the plugin. But, in order for Linux to get mainstream (which is good for geeks and non-geeks), it helps to have proprietary closed source applications ported to Linux. Non-geeks who try Linux for the first time expect all of their stuff to work just like it did before.
You always have the choice to use other great distros that don’t have the proprietary packages. Don’t complain about what other people do. You can still do things the way you want.
I totally agree with you. If i were a CEO of a software company i would be very hesitant to make the effort of porting my software products to Linux. Afaik there is nobody important in the Linux world who says `We welcome proprietary software and would be glad to help you port your software.’ OSS software is imo excellent for basic infrastructure like the operating system, standard server applications etc., but insisting that every software application should be open-source is imo ridiculous.
A waste of bandwidth and source of the most annoying commercials and pop-ups on earth. REVOLT! Do not install the plug-in, there is nothing in flash worth knowing, if you’ve seen one bin-laden-in-a-blender you’ve seen it all. Delete the plug-in you’re using now, help make the web a quieter and more tasteful place.
A waste of bandwidth and source of the most annoying commercials and pop-ups on earth. REVOLT! Do not install the plug-in, there is nothing in flash worth knowing, if you’ve seen one bin-laden-in-a-blender you’ve seen it all. Delete the plug-in you’re using now, help make the web a quieter and more tasteful place. Thank you, if we unite we can change the web.
“Thanks Macromedia! I’ve always had performance problems with Flash on Linux so I can’t wait to try this one out.”
Flash makes extensive use of transparency, wich X doesn’t like, so performance will still be bad.
I was looking at this site:
http://www.sky.com/skyplus/launcher
Is it b0rked for anyone else under linux with Flashplayer 6/7? I had hoped this release would fix things, no joy. I get a big chunk of what looks like a GTK+ widget plastered accross the flash animation???
this bug is in mozilla/firefox, because i tried with konqueror and flash 7 and this website works perfectly
in mozilla the flex demo of macromedia website don’t work
but they do in konqueror, so it’s a mozilla bug
Fortunately for us Flash developers your opinion is narrow and unpopular.
——————
A waste of bandwidth and source of the most annoying commercials and pop-ups on earth. REVOLT! Do not install the plug-in, there is nothing in flash worth knowing, if you’ve seen one bin-laden-in-a-blender you’ve seen it all. Delete the plug-in you’re using now, help make the web a quieter and more tasteful place. Thank you, if we unite we can change the web.
——————-
> Fortunately for us Flash developers your opinion is narrow and unpopular.
actually, it isnt that narrow and unpopular. many people wish they could block flash ads like they block image ones. thats why there are plugins that replace flash with a “click to see” button.
i dont think flash itself is web pollution, but most sites dont know how to use it.
It would be nice if Flash wasn’t slow as a turtle in molasses on Linux. If it had the same performance as on Windows, it might actually be useful for us Linux users.
Ive tried this in Firefox, works like a charm.
Just add export FLASH_GTK_LIBRARY=libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 to /usr/lib/FIREFOX/run-mozilla.sh
“Fortunately for us Flash developers your opinion is narrow and unpopular.”
Look if i surf on the Internet i get some moving images as banners. Some explode on my screen (Flash), some are annoying repeating (Flash though it could be GIF too), and some make sounds (Flash). Do you really think i want that? No, hence no Flash (leaving aside any Free vs non-Free discussion).
… they’ll release Flash 8 in a few days and we’ll have to wait another whole year bearing the performance slowdown.
I totally agree that flash polutes the web. It’s annoying and unnecessary on 90% of the cases i’ve seen it being used. Down with flash.
Victor.
You also have certain sites (like oomph.de) on which the only Flash on the entire site is the ENTER button. Now that is friendly to users without flash!
So I think Flash is great for certain things, like online games, but that it should not mandatory for websites that could have been made with HTML+PNG+PHP just as well.
Btw. with oomph.de it’s no problem, as your don’t even want their music because they don’t offer it as a CD, only as Un-CD 🙂
You guys are ridiculous about the Flash ads thing. It has nothing to do with Flash which is just a vector of communication. The problems is with ads and if you don’t like them, just block them and leave the rest of us who enjoy Flash for what it’s useful for.
A simple example of why I think Flash is useful and why the fact that release 7 is now available on Linux is great news for multimedia websites :
http://www.adrenaline.ch/content/view/21/40/
Video content.
how else would http://www.Homestarrunner.com and http://www.happytreefriends.com display their animations? Java applets? I think not. I can deal with ads but I want my Trogdor dammit!. Else it would be cutting my nose off to spite my face.
At least with this new player, my sound works. woo hoo.
Still waiting for the ppc version though…..
its not a waste…how else are you going to view strongbad emails? whats different about this than the flash that has already been available for linux for years, i never had a problem with it.
“Non-geeks who try Linux for the first time expect all of their stuff to work just like it did before.”
I would also consider geeks as part of this too. If another platform requires more work to get things to work than what I am using right now, then its no contest that I will want to stick with what I am using. I expect things to just work. I have better things to be doing than jury rigging my system to get things working when another platform is available that just works.
People wanting a PPC version, please support swfdec project with time, money, and cheers.
Currently supports most of Flash 6, and aiming for Flash 7. Works on *all* Debian architectures. (arm alpha hppa i386 ia64 m68k mips mipsel powerpc s390 sparc. But probably more.)
It has Mozilla plugin, GdkPixBuf plugin, GStreamer plugin, is licensed under LGPL, and is free.
http://swfdec.sourceforge.net/
Praying for Macromedia to make Flash player for PPC is, IMO, not the correct solution.
however, what annoys the crap outta me is them “muppets” who design a site based totally on flash. they just show that they are talentless at web design.
if I visit a site that starts up a flash animation and there is no “SKIP” button, then I will skip the site and visit another instead. I mean, there are tons of sites where I can get me daily dose of porno hehehe
> I totally agree that flash polutes the web. It’s annoying and unnecessary on 90% of the cases i’ve seen it being used. Down with flash.
I agree 100% with Victor, Sphinx and Daan, so I feel sorry for you Flash developers who *may* think our opinion is unpopular. Perhaps in YOUR circles. Truth is the only time you ever see Flash used on sites MY firm designs and builds is “opt-In” only. And that is rare. Everything else is achieved with great design, communication and resourcefulness. Sorry Flash guys.