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The Return of GPLFlash
ValourX writes "Remember GPLFlash, the free software project that was supposed to replace the proprietary Macromedia Flash plugin? Well it's back in active development according to this NewsForge article. GPLFlash is half of the proprietary duo that the Free Software Foundation is rallying to replace with free equivalents. The alpha release isn't far away, but the development team could use some programming help, if you're available."
Please link to GPLFlash from your website. You may use an unofficial logo I created, download it here.
... will my Flashblock block this too?
Global warming is a cube.
What kind of help? And more importantly, how are they making something compatable? Reverse engineering? I wouldn't want to be in the USA helping this effort... the DMCA could very well be used by macromedia to contain any third party renderers that may appear. They have a ton of money on the line...
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
Is it ?? Is it?? Tell me, I dont know what to think now after all the anti flash vitriol.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
All I can say is as long as I can smack the monkey for a free iPod or PSP, I'm give it a try! :D
Join the TWIT army now!
The alpha release isn't far away, but the development team could use some programming help, if you're available."
I'm available. Let me know where the VBScript coderz can sign up.
I haven't coded shit in 4 years (I wasted my time and money to get an MBA in the last couple of years after being out of work for over a year. Don't get an MBA!! It's FUCKING worthless!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I was a C++ coder back then. What I'm saying is, appearantly I'm not qualified to get a tech job now - or any other job.
Do you think they'd take me?!?
Ever tried to get flash to work on linux PPC or linux arm etc
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
The alpha release isn't far away, but the development team could use some programming help, if you're available.
I would think that they are having problems getting programming support mainly because there are not enough people that see the flash engine as such a travesty to be closed source when it is given out for free, anyway. Same goes for Java.
The only problem with replacing free beer with free speech is that if you have the beer, you're more likely to slur the speech or forget about it altogether.
There is not enough incentive for this project to flourish.
Linux on PPC users don't expect a flash player from Macromedia anytime soon, so continued GPLflash development is good for us.
Because Macromedia hasn't released a 64-bit version of the flash player
reverse engineer and copy.
Go Team Linux!
What about an Open Source decompiler for SWF files ?
If you run Linux on x86, that is.
Or even hoped the sound would synchronize properly on Intel/Linux...
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
Ya know you're going to be modded into "Flamebait" oblivion. Why did you post this?
Because it is only free as in iPods. Not free as in speech.
Because what's avaliable isn't really that great.
Because they think they can do better.
Please re-enroll yourself in the FSF GPL Religion retraining center as the first phase obviously didn't take.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
Libre vs beer. Ease of porting to unsupported browsers. Insurance against Macromedia going crazy and making the next version a license encumbered, 'feature rich', bug ridden mess. The same old reasons.
Do you understand that C is one of the most effective languages in use today? This is why most of the linux infrastructure is written in C.
Java is horrible. Java uses a virtual machine that runs at the speed of my old Pentium 2.
Flash isn't even a programming language. ActionScript can't do anything compared to C.
Another thing, Java and Flash are interpreted languages. C, on the other hand is compiled. Compiled programs are infinitely faster than interpreted programs.
::yawn:: That was 100% entertainment-free. Consider trolling on this site instead.
GPLFlash is half of the proprietary duo that the Free Software Foundation is rallying to replace with free equivalents.
Macromedia's free as in beer flash plugin is the correct "half of the duo". The other half are the proprietary java implementations.
I think "perfectly working" is a bit of a stretch. It loads, doesn't crash, and displays video and audio...fair enough. If you want them to sync up, though, you're out of luck.
Macromedia isn't showing much interest in making their Linux client much better (why should they?), so this effort is a perfectly reasonable one, I think.
The GPLFlash project appears on Slashdot because it is back in active development. The GPLFlash project is back in active development because it appears on Slashdot.
Will I still be able to disable it with PrefBar?!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Hey, I've got the Karma. Why not use it like a Super Hero?
I am fairly new to the computer science field, but even so, I think you might be confused. I know that Java is faster than C, but I'm not sure that flash is. I'm not even sure about Flash's low level I/O routines - which is imperitive if you are going to write an OS in it!
...that I see to this is the ability to run flash applications on non-x86 machines. Then again, I've grown accustomed to not seeing little punching monkeys and other such nonsense when surfing the web, so perhaps this isn't such a good thing, after all... ;]
Anyway, good job guys. I'm glad to hear that you're back in business.
How about we just finish ditching this flash crap? There are plenty of projects out there that aren't based on nonstandard proprietary specifications, breaking function models, and inane annoyances. Give the effort to something that's worth it.
funny munging
Once you get past the "Flash is EVIL" posts out there, and have browsed through the ming stuff for PHP -- are we anywhere near a GPLed Flash content creator?
I understand it'll eventually piss off the original creators and may break any sort of idea that Macrobe or Adobedia had about porting their stuff to Linux. Talk about vendor lock-in though.
Whether you like it or not, Flash has its uses. Would be nice to have an easy way to create the content without having to fork up that much cash to Adobe/Macromedia. Oh yeah...and all that stuff about software freedom and open formats, too.
Yeah mozilla need coders too right?
I don't believe Java can possibly be faster. It runs on a virtual machine and is interpreted. C is compiled into machine code. "Programming" in flash is like graphics design in MS Paint.
They could begin by changin the project name, because the current one sounds very dumb. What is next, GPLPhotoshop, GPLWindows, or GPLCorel Draw?
Becaused it isn't licenced under the GPL. If it ain't GPL I don't touch it. Never even used flash to tell you the truth, why would someone want to see graphics on a webpage? The web is made for plain text - ANSI only, if you don't speak English to bad.
Anyway, when this software becomes stable (probably sometime in 2012) I may start using it, but only if it is written in my favorite programming language - F1917. It is great for developing programs with a CLI.
Maybe I can join the project and add a version which outputs ANSI graphics... maybe they need a F1917 programmer too.
Mr. Fud
President of the Fud Software Foundation
Super-duper programmer
Java isn't faster than C... maybe faster development time... What language do you think the Java VM's are coded in?
Really? I guess you haven't seen TWiki's logos: http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/TWikiLogos
Mister, you are a complete idiot. Read the post again, if you understand as much as you claim you do, you should end up laughing quite loudly..it's one of the few seriously funny posts in quite a while
;) libre vs Gratis .I am Honestly not trying to Grammar troll , I am just trying to bolster the sentiment
Ah, The Dark Room. Possibly the greatest use of Flash, ever.
I don't know why there's an IE version and an other version, but there you have it.
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
That's fine and dandy having a GPL flash plugin, but does anyone know off hand of a GPL acrobat plugin? The POS one from Adobe likes to crash my firefox so much so that I prefer right-click-saving pdfs and opening then up with gpdf.
It's a Perl one-liner.
Java uses a virtual machine that runs at the speed of my old Pentium 2.
Blah blah that's grown very tiresome. Newer AWT and Swing applications run quite nicely thinks. I use Zend PHP studio and it feels as good as a good as any win32 or gtk app. The theme engine might not translate over from Gnome to Java, but that's not the end of the world.
Another thing, Java and Flash are interpreted languages
AFAIK you've been able to compile Java for a long time now IIRC. Isn't that what gcc-java is for?
You had me until that point. Comparing Java to Flash is like comparing c to animated gif. Different tools for different problems.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Because it can be ported to as many platforms as we want to without waiting for the benevolence of the whizbang-antialiased-vector-animation-website-intr o-blinking-ads-with-sound overlords, several rendering backends will eventually be possible (OpenGL accelerated, albeit fullscreen flash animations are not an issue anymore with current cpus, but offloading processing to GPU is IMO a Good Thing®), there are actually a few good things made in flash, like Strong Bad
, it will be a while until svg gets traction on the internet, and there are already SVG implementations going along which will not die (KDE, Mozilla, Gnome).
The TWiki logos aren't great, but this GPL Flash logo is just poor. There's a huge difference. There's some obvious artistic ability that went into creating the robot, for one. This logo is just a marble background, a cheesy font, and two solid lines.
Like Debon, Groth needed a Flash player that did not -- and still does not -- exist. This time it was for a version of GNU/Linux that runs on his PowerPC-based Apple iBook.
This is exactly what I'm waiting for, it will make the ibook play just like it's x86 brothers. Current version of GPLFlash doesn't work well, unless you like your browser crashing allot.
I've joined the mailing list, and will help to test out code in prep for the alpha.
First I get e17 (or 16.9999999) installed on the iBook, and now this! Things are looking good.
bo
bad_outlook
--
Is this vague enough for you?
Java's VM is actually written in Java.
There are lots of benchmarks showing Java outpacing C and C++ (due to Java's ability to do dynamic optimization on the fly as code is running)
Isn't that the pedophiliac robot from Buck Rogers TV series? Erin Gray was such a little hotty, and Buck was so obviously a fag. Just the way him and that robot were eyeing Gary Coleman on his guest appearance... brrrr. Shades of Whacko Jacko! I bet Buck and the robot got it on at night. "Twiki, a good anal pounding requires lubrication. Try WD-40! That's it, easy it on in."
Java is not interpreted.
Java has actually been benched to be faster than C. There are tons of these benchmarks out there - go look.
it's called sarcasm. The post was funny, not -1 flamebait. If I had the points I'd be making the move...
twitter.com/gravitronic
I'll support it!
If religous zealots don't believe in Evolution, then why are they so worried about bird flu?
Izn't dat kopywrite infringement? NBC shud be notified of this travesty!
Actually, most versions of Java (including Sun's) come with a Just-in-Time compiler which compiles the code right before execution. You don't even need gcc-java.
Seriously? Firefox will happily fire up whatever pdf viewer you want as an external program. Running it as a plugin just makes the browser bloated, harder to maintain, and probably less secure.
I guess if you're into that sort of thing, though, you should try the pdf kpart functionality in Konqueror.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
As an AMD64 users i crave a GPL Flash. Currently i am using gentoo and there is no 64 bit flash available that seems stable.
I think this is great.
I'm beginning to think that I need to stop coming here. /. groupthink, and get modderation and Metamodderation rights withing a week. Stick up for yourselves! Trustme! I'm an oldguy who wishes he wasnt sucj a pussy!!!
I wish you yougsters would stand up for yourselves more. I know that you don't agree with everything here, but you're afraid of being modded "Flaimbait" or "Troll". I don'y give a shit. I can start a new account, pander to
Spelling errors intentional!! The best authors couldn't spell!!!Take that Grammar Nazis!!!
Or use a proper audio backend. I mean, even RealPlayer is smart enough to figure out what you're using and adapt to it. Flash, on the other hand, keeps trying to use ESD; on my system (ALSA with the dMix plugin), the Flash plugin will refuse to play sound if anything else is playing at the time - every other program manages to do it just fine.
And yes, it doesn't seem able to play a clip over 30 seconds long without losing audio/video sync.
I wonder what their motivations are for working on this instead of helping out the gstreamer guys on swfdec. swfdec is licensed under the GPL and largely already works, including its Mozilla plugin. Even on non-x86 platforms.
http://www.schleef.org/swfdec/
'nuff said.
Maybe, I was too harsh. But I really appreciate your insightfulness.
since there isn't any kind of linux player for that.
I am trolling
I still think Flash is a bad idea. FOSS developers should concentrate on making SVG happen.
In fact, the big thing about Flash isn't the format, it's the authoring tools. A Macromedia-like authoring tool for SVG would be a much better investment of time than creating a Flash player.
Please...just shut up. Your various posts are retarded beyond belief, and even though the original post was a funny troll, yours are much sadder. Stop trying to pretend you understand software development.
I wonder if they'll make use of cairo this time.
Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
Don't forget about insurance against Digital Restrictions Management "support."
Well marco, that's the second time you've tried to be smart and made an ass of yourself today.
Don't be so hard on the person who created the logo, after he selflessly spent three precious minutes of his life working on it.
We should start dealing in those black-market beagles.
Thank you for just acknowleging my post. /. used to be a place where we geeks could really hammer stuff out - even if other folks found it offensive or not to their liking.
I'm really sad right now.
another good flash animation that I haven't seen mentioned, yet... Ninjai: The Little Linja
flash isn't any more evil than guns or double fudge brownie ice cream. perhaps just as evil, tho... but still the right tool for some things.
...have used this logo which imho would have been MUCH worse.
.haeger
You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -- Harlan Ellison
We all know that Flash can be annoying. But...
Is there another solution for multimedia web application deployment with the reach (97% web broswer coverage) or power of Flash?
DHTML
- suffers from memory leaks
- Cross-browser issues
- Minimal typography options
- No Visual IDE
Java applets
- slow
- memory consuming
- Microsoft vs. Sun, imbroglia
A couple more points:
- There already are free Flash compilers out there (sans IDE).
- Flash can be used as a frontend to Java using an open-source project called Lazlo.
GPLFlash makes these products more useful.
But what VM does the Java VM run on then?!?!??? (And don't tell me it's turtles all the way down!)
the layman's guide to computer science
If he had only just said "That sucks", I wouldn't have said anything. But he claimed to be able to do it better. So if he's going to make a claim, he should shit or get off the pot.
Sadly, I used all my mod points earlier today, but parent is right on the money.
is probably freedos32's old one http://freedos-32.sourceforge.net/art/nazareno.png
As the FSF article states, we need free Java, free Java standard classes, and free Flash.
Conspicuously missing is free standard classes for Flash. Flash ships with useful, though buggy as hell, classes and controls that should have free versions as well.
To be honest, I wound up being dissapointed because I thought that GPLFlash might be an open-source Flash authoring tool.
.swf on the authoring tool)?
As far as I can tell, no such tool exists (please correct me if I'm wrong). All I found was MTASC, which is just an actionscript compiler (no gui).
So, both in terms of impact (who is affected, who would use) and interest (pool of people who'd volunteer), it seems to me that an open source replacement to Flash MX ($200 upgrade / $700 full price, OSX and WinXP only, sure to go up in price thansks to the adobe buyout) is a much better time investment to the player (Free-as-in-beer, which runs on Mac, PC, Sun, Irix, and several Linux distros).
Nevermind the terminal game of catch-up that will be played: GPLFlash will *always* be behind the curve to Macromedia. Obviously the same is true for the authoring tools, but your Flash 5 content will still run on your latest-greatest Flash Player -- the reverse is not true.
Is it the fear of being sued? Is it much harder to create an author tool than a player (consider implementing all of the video/audio/video codecs that you'll need to implement on the player side vs. a GUI that outputs
Why replace the free, widely available player and not the expensive-as-hell, mac or pc only authoring tool? I don't get it.
This is brilliant news!
Now instead of disabling the Macromedia Flash plug-in because I'm sick to the back teeth of crappy Flash ads, I can disable the free alternative instead.
Yay! (^_^)
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
C++, actually. Though most of the JVM is actually written in java, using a Java->machine language compiler ... written in Java. There's been more than one VM that dispensed with the C++ pieces completely and are fully bootstrapped, but I don't think Sun's is.
Just because it used to be bad doesn't mean that it hasn't gotten better recently. Any of the big java apps I've used recently run just fine. That includes ConsoleOne, Eclipse, JBuilder to name a few off the top of my head.
Another thing, Java and Flash are interpreted languages. C, on the other hand is compiled.
If you want to sound like you know what your talking about you might want to look up the definition of interpreted and compiled languages.
Compiled programs are infinitely faster than interpreted programs.
Yes they are faster, but infintely is just too much of a blanket statement. Not that it matters a whole lot, you use the right tool right job.
one reason why I cant be botherd with the FSF anymore, yere, thanks for the GPL, but on the reat, Give it a Break
So hopefully some progress looks to be made! Now if we just had working PPC Java.... (No, the old IBM java nor Blackdown doesnt' count.)
makes sense. Though you're a 760k.
RMS should have called it Libre Software. Then he and the LSF won't have to explain "free" to everyone!
Of course, if you must have it, there's a happy little firefox plugin that only plays the flash when you click on the image.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Given (very) limited resources and tons of things to do, shouldn't the community focus on open source replacements for software/protocols which are not supported on a free platforms?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Adobe/Macromedia support flash for FLOSS browsers (eg. firefox) and FLOSS OS's (ie. Linux). The company is not aligned with MS or Apple, and appears to be committed to providing cross-platform support in the future.
It would be better if they provided source, but surely cross-platform is an important goal too.
I have no connection of any sort with Adobe/Macromedia or Flash.
No.
Cartoon Network's ongoing travesties laughingly called cartoons. Not since Hanna Barberra has anything been designed from day one to be so easily made in Flash that eventually, some web graphics nerd from nowhere could come up with an animated web cartoon in Flash that the ordinary CN viewer would easily mistake for being something that took a crew of six hundred contractors in SE Asia and a thousand yes men and money people in Hollyweird to produce.
First time I saw Samurai Jack all I could think was, "this is Flash, right? What hard times has Mako fallen on to lend his voice to a Flash production?" Flash: it makes two-dimensional as easy as Star Trek writers do.
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
It would be an excellent feature if this plugin recognized the ESC key to stop all flash animation. Browsers today recognize that for stopping animated gif's, and if that applied flash animations as well, suddenly flash ads wouldn't be so horrible.
:)
It must also correctly deliver all Strong Bad email content.
*TheDarb
This sig intentionally left blank.
Saying "Why support Flash, when SVG is better?" is like saying "Why support JPEG/GIF/BMP when PNG is better?"
-:sigma.SB
WARN
THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM
Macromedia already releases a flash player for Windows, MacOS, Linux, PocketPC (wow..), OS/2, Solaris, HPUX, and IRIX..
Now, a free flash authoring program.. that would be newsworthy!
I am the maverick of Slashdot
Why is there so much pressure to make free alternatives to commercial software ? If it already exists and it's halfway OK then just buy the f'ing thing, that way you support further development of the software by that company and you encourage them to become more inovative
.. what do they hope to achieve ? Are they hoping that the commercial software house will give up on that product and sack it's employees ?
.. it's almost seems like the warez scene with more thought involved.
... how are you then supposed to pay towards the mortgage ?
Just seems to me that some people are so tight fisted that they'd rather do as much as they can to remove a company from the market by cloning their software and giving it away free
I've nothing against someone producing software and releasing it for free themselves that's their choice, but it just annoys me when people rip off other peoples ideas
How does the whole copyright thing get enforced for things like this ? What happens if you produce "WonderTool!" and sell it for $20 a go, then a bunch of people decide that $20 is far to pricey and produce "GnuWonderTool" which looks and performs identically to yours but is free
> not enough people that see the flash engine as
> such a travesty to be closed source when it is
> given out for free, anyway. Same goes for Java.
Yea. Unless you have an Athlon64, PPC, ARM, MIPS, Sparc, M68K, etc, etc. Unless you have seen a different download site than I have.
Java is horrible. Java uses a virtual machine that runs at the speed of my old Pentium 2
You dirty troll. That is complete bs unless you are using "new p2" JDK1.5 runs at 90-95 native speed in almost any area. Its not for everything, but Java definitely has its place.
Are you intolerant of intolerant people?
It's a plugin and used the GPL license. This means anything it plugs into has to be GPL as well. Why wasn't the LGPL used instead? The GPL is good for standalone applications, like a flash player, but is less than ideal for a reusable component like a library or plugin. Depending on one's interpretation of the GPL, you might not be able to use this plugin alongside a non-GPL plugin.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
It's interesting to see trolls getting so many replies. And being modded up as well.
or, you could learn how to use adblock and never see an ad again.
oh yeah and you'll probably want this too:
http://www.geocities.com/pierceive/adblock/
If you don't want someone to copy something, don't give it to anyone.
The thing is, it's NOT free. Merely free of charge, which is irrelevant. It doesn't matter how much something costs if it denying your natural rights to modify and share it.
Also, tell me how you expect anyone on non-x86 platforms to view Flash right now? You can't (with the one exception of Mac OS). Hardly cross-platform.
Besides, isn't there an animated SVG format that does what Flash does better? After all, Flash is merely an animation format. Abuse of Flash (such as interactive websites) are just that-- abuse. Any website requiring Flash should be ignored and its contents considered useless.
Luke-Jr
All i can say is that if this project is to become mainstream (and it would be cool) please please please please please please don't screw up the implementation, it must behave _exactly_ as the real flash plug-in does (for whatever version) or we will go round in circles - one of the best reasons for using flash is consistency across platforms which is vital for graphical sites, HTML is great at getting the information across but sucks at cross platform graphics because every single browser is different and has its own bugs and unsupported CSS/HTML standards. SVG should be the standard but the user base is just too low :(
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
It's called Actionscript and you can do plenty of flash with almost no AS at all.
I detest Flash. Why help build open flash?
Maybe time is better spent helping making flashblock better.
http://flashblock.mozdev.org/
Just wanted to be sure that anonymous coward got credit for the comment.
Comparing Java to Flash is like comparing c to animated gif Not really, it's like comparing c and smalltalk.
It's interesting how many people complain about how "Flash" is "proprietary", even though the data format is documented, compared to how few people contribute to actually making an open source plugin that processes it. If all the collective hours of whining about "proprietary" Flash were spent programming, the open source plugin would be better than the Macromedia one by now.
--
make install -not war
Gcj is great for those programs that work on it. Unfortunately, it's still not at the stage where you can take a random java prog and expect to be able to compile it with gcj.
I am trolling
By reading the article, I realized that, eventually, all prop. will be replaced with FOSS - just like Sony CD players gave way to the clones.
The proprietary value (which companies earn) is the value of the INVENTION: To fulfill specific - created or not - needs.
As the invention's usage is more and more common, the public gets acquainted enough to imitate (and even outperform) the invention. This is how inventions evolve.
Seems that with Open Source, this phenomenon extends to software, too. Who knows if tomorrow (long-term) we'll have photoshop clones (NOT the Gimp), windows clones (ReactOS, anyone?), etc.
Of course, then more niches will appear (people will need specialization), and the cycle will begin.
Ever heard of ming? Check out www.opaque.net/ming -- it's freeware for creating Flash MX documents in Perl or PHP. I use both on my website. :)
I'd like to see GPLKillFlash, because I hate visiting website that require Flash. Especially those sites that are using it to accomplish what basic HTML could do. You know, I didn't much like to when browser plug-ins hit the net way back when. Never the less, having a less bloated alternative is still a good thing.
-Slashdot Junky
.
Landfill Mining Co.
Managing the (Un)natural Resources of Tomorrow
there are actually a few good things made in flash
All of these "Flash R evil!!!1!" types forget this. Flash is by far the best way to create and publish animation on the Internet. And just as with any other medium, 95% of the stuff out there is crap, so I wouldn't consider it any lesser of an art form. Hell, Homestar Runner has thoroughly left its mark on Internet culture, and I don't think it would have had the same opportunity without a medium with the same properties as Flash.
Of course, the sooner we can move this creativity to a Free medium, the better.
YHBT
cat
This is one of the funnier posts I've seen in awhile - for those taking this post seriously, lighten up a bit.
If I was a user, I'd be very put off by the FSF page linked in the story:
These projects are important because computer users are continually being seduced into using non-free software
"seduced" into using non-free software? Jesus wept, that makes them sound like complete loonies...not to mention, it's insulting to the intelligence of users. They really need to work on their wording and image, because if that's the way they present themselves to the public then they won't get very far.
Not to mention, I see no issue with the Flash player being closed source as it is. Someone already mentioned swfdec...
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
"So if your uname says AMD64, PPC, SPARC, Alpha, or MIPS, the smug reply from Macromedia is "sorry 'bout your bad luck! Use Windows, buy an x86 machine!""
Sun Solaris (Sparc)
SGI IRIX
HP-UX
Pocket PC (color devices supported only)
There is a huge reason to have a flexible player-- I really wish there was a way to force flash files to stay within their window. I don't mind loud, busy, flashing advertizements on websites, but when they can spill all over the screen and block the page, that is going too far. My only option is to uninstall the macromedia player, or to tolerate whatever level of SPAM a website wants me to tolerate.
Uh Oh... a constructive thought just hit me... Firefox could be updated to filter out flash content on specific websites. A quick click, and a site that offends me can be blacklisted...
F4L, screenshots
Some folks might be interested to learn of the open-source Flash development trend that is slowly growing. People are starting to use open tools such as Eclipse, Flashout and MTASC to program and compile Flash applications.
What is taking SVG so long?
SVG is an XML dialect, standardized by the W3C. SVG is to Flash what PNG was to GIF. Flash is history!
Check out osflash.org.
The Open Source Flash community is really taking off these days. You can create SWFs without any need for commercial products.
There's an Open Source Eclipse Plugin for ActionScript2 (ECMA262 v4 based, classes, interfaces, typing...), and you can use Ant to convert an XML to SWF with an OS tool, and then have your code compiled into it with an OS compiler.
Even if Macromedia had distributed something for users on a variety of OSes (not just GNU/Linux systems) on non-Intel-like hardware (such as Mac PPC), this would be a great development for everyone because it gives us something Macromedia isn't giving us: software freedom. The freedom to share and modify should be valued in its own right, not just because it is less expensive or can be recompiled for less popular combinations of hardware and operating system.
Digital Citizen
As an implementer of Flash in a business environment, it's important to be able to edit the source files. Too many times I've received a .swf from a client and it is missing something (usually click tracking which has to be embedded, or a URL, or it's too heavy and needs optimization, etc.).
Having the source .fla becomes important. But a lot of "designers" are so full of themselves and their Flash masterpeice getting the .fla is nearly impossible. I guess they're afraid you're going to rip off their wicked script or something. And then you find out they are using a non-macromedia Flash-like application so they do not have .fla files but some other kind of format, which you do not have, nor will invest the time to gownload the free trial because after all you're dealing with 100 advertisers and insertion orders that must go up *today* and if the designer had complied with the specifications in the first place you wouldn't be wasting time back and forth with some snot that thinks they know everything.
Then, they insist on making the needed changes themselves. 3 days are lost while they milk their client (our mutual client who they are creating the artwork for) for more money, and revenue is lost. The mutual client thinks we are being hard headed and unflexible and doesn't understand nor want to hear the whys.
fun times
Lane Myer: I have great fear of tools. I once made a birdhouse in woodshop and the fair housing committee condemned it.
I thought that the SVG format was supposed to replace Flash. I could be mistaken, but I thought SVG was Vector based, and it could be manipulated similarly to the way SWF/Flash does.
Can SVG do this?
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
The player is at least free as in beer, the SWF standard is open, and apps like PHP currently use an open library to render SWF files (ImageMagic???).
Shouldn't talented coders be working on Wiki tools, web browsers, spam assassins, P2Ps and kernels.... - stuff we could all innovate with?
Once open source has conquered the world could we then come back and make sure we have a free, as in speech, flash player?
.\.\att Clare
... is a swf authoring program. The only reason I still use windows is for swish, which does everything flash does in about 1/10 of the time. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get it running with wine.
GETPKG - Package Management for Slackware
Macromedia ought to consider opening up their source for Flash. Developers are more and more pushing the limits of Javascript. There are already numerous implementations that do largely what flash developers do, and further, some uses of Javascript are even better that what we've been able to do with Flash. (Some things aren't as good though).
even 1.5, it's still too slow.
;)
Just to point out they're on Java 5 now. You're 3.5 major revisions behind
(In case u didn't catch the joke, they kinda skipped a few #'s lol)
On my P4 1.6 Laptop running FC3 all Java apps load very well. Zend PHP Studio and Netbeans load great.
On my Athlon 1700+ all apps load great too.
My desktop btw is three years old and is an Athlon XP 1800. Your P3 800 is a bit dated IMO. Time to upgrade instead of expecting everything to continue to support your desktop.
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I usually love the OSS movement. This one smacks in the face of stupidity. Its just a bad project. Cloning proprietary software to make it "open" will only make companies (1) less likely to standardize their file formats without patents and (2) hurt companies who have invested R&D to bring us new and innovative products. GPLFlash should instead focus on building a competitive alternative to Flash. OpenOffice, for example, is not a clone of Microsoft Office. It is similair but have obvious differences. It is a competitor. Firefox is not IE. But its growing usage has forced Microsoft to start improving IE. Competition is good. Trying to replace proprietary products with open source clones is bad business.
Flash is available on Linux & Mac, and about to release a symbian version for Nokia.
I presume they will be forced to release a version for 64-bit windows anyway.
Maybe these guys could invest their time more productively making a Linux version of Flash studio. That would be useful.
"This project hope to bring GPLFlash back as a free, portable and useable alternative to the flash-decoder released by Macromedia"
Well isn't Flash Player already... free... portable... and useable already?
Is there a point other than someone can now say R0F1 iT's GPL!! R0xx0r my boxx0rz!!
That makes no sense. GPLFlash is proprietary? What?
Flash is a great tool for marketing, games, and web comics... but Macromedia desperately wants it to become an application authoring platform. I think the open source community would be better served with a more aggressive push into SVG which has all the same graphical capabilities of Flash. When combined with JavaScript/AJAX and CSS, it's just as powerful.
Wow, get over it. They're pretty funny. They'll die down within a few weeks, but in the meantime, pull your head out of your ass.
I agree. I'm an AMD64 user, and I also think it is great that there is no flash available.
lol, so true
Firefox could be updated to filter out flash content on specific websites. A quick click, and a site that offends me can be blacklisted...
Have you tried the Adblock extension? There's also Flashblock, which puts every flash object behind a "Click to play" layer, but it doesn't work very well alongside Adblock.
Everyone is born right-handed; only the greatest overcome it
Thanks for that link!
I'm color blind and I'm always trying to explain to my wife what things look like to me. When I saw that site, and what "protanopia" color blindness looks like, I couldn't tell the difference between those pics and the originals.
But that is weird. I can usualy tell red and green apart, no problem. But light greens do look yellow to me. (and purple flowers look blue)
I downloaded the filters so I can show my wife why I'm not interested in sunsets.
"That's so plausible, I can't believe it!" - Leela
Maybe people will stop using it.
==== PUNCH THE MONKEY AND WIN!!! ====
They must mean the Flash hax0r who wrote the ad.
http://b3ta.com/features/phalliclogoawards/
I think that sounds like a memory problem, not so much the CPU speed. Perhaps your machine does not have enough physical RAM to hold the huge virtual machine allocation and still cache all the shared libraries required by it. In that case, every startup of the virtual machine will be dreadfully slow, and swapping will only make things worse.
But Java itself is not slow, if you give it enough RAM. That's a misconception. A reasonable one, I will add, particularly if you used the early versions and then dropped it, like I did. But if you'll forgive a little rant, here's an anecdote.
A month ago or so I wrote a general C implementation of the a-star algorithm (AI stuff, commonly used to compute routes on a graph), and tested on some fairly demanding problems, both in memory and CPU cycles. I thought it was rather nice, e.g., solved most solvable combinations of the "eight-slides" puzzle in less than a second, and exhausted the search space for unsolvable combinations in 10 seconds or so.
Then, just for the hell of it, I wrote a quick Java implementation. Would you believe it was nearly 10 times faster? I couldn't, at first. But it really was.
I went back and actually profiled the C version, and found that my data structures were hideously slow. Long story short, I replaced some arrays with red-black trees, and in the end, yes, the C version ran faster than Java. But not much faster. Just some 10-20% faster. And it was much harder to get it right.
Now, this is not to be construed as an endorsement of Java. I don't like the stupid language, and Mono/.Net is much better IMO, as far as virtual machines go---at least you can choose the language. And I don't use programming tools where "Hello World" requires megabytes of memory to even start, just on general principle.
But my point is that, provided you have lots and lots of RAM, recent Java is fast. I couldn't believe exactly how fast until it hit me in the head.
give me a tool to create the stuff in linux and id be happy
Lets see flash is commercial and its popular, instead of trying to come up with something better the OSS advocate's cry wolf about god know what and decide to mimic something that is already out there...hmm can you say waste of time/bandwidth/air and oh waste of everything.
Either come up with something new and better and stop trying to copy others and maybe just maybe OSS will have a half-ass chance in the real world ( i.e. the one your grandmother lives in )
Are SVG and Flash similar enough that a player capable of handling both would be possible? Seems like it might be easier and more practical to have a single engine that handles both specs.
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
> > I could've peed something in the snow better than that.
> ROFL!
> Now that's a button I'd like to see!
now you see it
what a great idea lets put as many programers out of work as possible by creating free versions of everything. what a great dotcommunist idea we can go back to the stone age as well while we are at it.
the last gpl flash thong that i saw had a divizion by zero error in it's sound handling ...
... :(
... none will use your plugin if it crashes their browsers :S
the result was that my mozilla tended to crash on every flash page that used flash
i just removed it and am using the macromedia thingy now, if you really want a gpl replacement pls try to avoid stupid errors like divizion by zero and others alike
make it work & i'll use it
I'd tell you the chances of this story being a dupe, but you wouldn't like it.
Yeah like fuck , Over-rated is a piece of shit . It is used by trolls only . .
It is not affected by M2 so people with a personal vendetta use it , Cowards mainly.
The logo is not that good and the reasons are covered in the previous posts here , but it does not deserve that abusive POS moderation work
Really. This is quite obviously a job that one would like to get some money for. Such rewritings aren't usually doing well on pure enthusiasm.
I wish I were a student, yes.
The first thing a flash project needs is a 100% reliable flash blocking filter system. Honestly I dont see the point.
I maybe wish I had flash once a month. And for that I'm expected to watch 100 flash advertisments a day? I like that broken icon.
.
Beatware Mobile Designer
Ikivo Animator
SVG smartphones shipping now.
The SVG implementation is there in Deer Park, the test version of Firefox 1.1. Examples here
5 is the marketing name, 1.5 is the real name. Anyway, C/C++ still works on my proc, python works, even mono works, kde works, OOo works, unreal tournament works, everything I want to use works. Why should I have to upgrade? It's only java that's so incredibly bloated, everything else manages.
I am trolling
I'll probably check that out; though I should make clear that I don't hate all ads- just pop-ups and animated banner ads.
Static or Google text-ads are fine...
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
I've got 384mb, I don't think it's ram. Anyway, java is fine for performance on console apps, it just crawls with gui. This isn't even a problem with java, just swing. It's not even a problem with swing, just sun's particular implementation of it. (If you did swing as a c library that called xlib, rather than drawing all the pixels in java, I'm sure it would zoom). But the way java is, swing is the standard gui so everyone uses it, and sun's implementation is the only one available that works for most java progs. So any gui java app is intolerably slow.
I am trolling
God how I loathe Flash. And now there's a GPL alternative ? Great... Yet more crappy plugins that I'll not be installing but will make Firefox nause me with that bastard yellow bar every time I visit an infected site.
But as usual it's not that I hate the technology per se - just the use made of it by the clueless imbeclies who operate as "web designers" when they're really only fit to work on TV advertising.
If I had my way I'd pass a law that anyone making a flash only website will be tracked down planetwide and have their eyes removed with a red hot spoon followed by the wounds being packed with salts extracted from dog piss.
Bastards.
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
I would support such a project if it included the following, none of which is provided by Macromedia Flash for Linux:
- Persistent quality (antialiasing) settings
- Correct sound synchronisation (configurable a la mplayer if need be)
- CPU usage throttle (or a 'nice' value I guess).
- Renders all SWFs designed for Windows correctly (in many cases Linux Flash plays the wrong sound at the wrong time - very frustrating for language pronounciation programs.)
- Fullscreen mode, at different resolutions (again a la mplayer)
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
If by slow, he means, ceterus paribus, if I run an application implemented in language A and then run it implemented in version B, one is less responsive
( i.e. does few actions in the same amount of time, perhaps includes the delay from the time I click on a button to the time the application reacts to that click ), then Java is slower than say, C++ or C( and perhaps even Flash/Flash Actionscript ). If you only care about the CPU being the same between the two tests ( meaning you can change the memory, system bus speed, etc ), then Java may still be a little 'slow', but better than in the first example I gave. Of course, you may simply just by CPU cycles, and with all of the converting/translation between byte code and binary code that goes on in Java (2), then Java will surely be slow relative to applications that start off in a form "native" to the system they are running on.
Just some of my thoughts on the subject. Personnally I like the idea of Java, and was even thinking of doing all my apps in it, but currently I think it is best suited to Server-Side applications. I do use java apps like Eclipse, and have heard good things about Jedit.
I can't afford a sig!
Well, I think we should adopt that worst logo ever for this flash project. the logo would read, "Sticking it to Macromedia since..."
Party at O'zorgnax's Pub! Buy me a Slurmtini aye?