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Flash 7 for Linux Released
molarmass192 writes "Looks like Macromedia has finally made good on their word and provided Linux with a current version of Flash player. Improvements over Flash 6 include a speed boost and support for SOAP. Here's the requisite download link. I took a few seconds to get it set up and the response is noticeably snappier than version 6. In particular, the audio/video sync problems in version 6 seems to have been taken care of. Now, I wonder where they hid that Shockwave player for Linux?"
One can only hope that other companies realize the benefits of releasing products for the Linux platform.
The Technonaut
Why must we download this sort of proprietary crud just to view webpages? What benefit does Macromedia gain from hiding the source to Flash from its users? How would we view flash pages if Macromedia went bankrupt tomorrow and you couldn't download the player anymore? (The EULA states that only Macromedia and their partners can distribute the player.) Why to we tolerate this sort of closed-source code, with who knows how many security vulnerabilities, running (I believe their installer runs as root?) on our Linux systems?
I flat out refuse to download Flash until Macromedia releases the source code. Any site that relies on such proprietary software is not a site I want to do business with or use as a source of reliable information. If you care about Free software, I urge you to do the same, and refuse to install Flash until the source code is released.
Again, you are wrong. Stealing is stealing, whether they are material things or not. On the other hand, copyright infringement is not theft, and thus cannot be compared to "pirating", which means robbing, killing, raping (that would be harsher than "stealing", and we are aware that this is not the case). Unauthorized copying/distributing/using would be a better way to describe it, now you imply that you are doing something you are not allowed to, but if you are harming someone, at least it is not a direct harm.