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The Return of GPLFlash

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the guess-who's-back-back-again dept.

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."

2 of 418 comments (clear)

  1. Cool by ortcutt · · Score: 5, Informative

    Linux on PPC users don't expect a flash player from Macromedia anytime soon, so continued GPLflash development is good for us.

  2. Re:Elaborate by soulhuntre · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Why should Macromedia care that someone is using a 3rd party renderer as a replacement to their free renderer"

    Compatability.

    One reason Flash is so popular is that for complex interactions it is much, much easier to be sure your Flash app will "just work" across any OS with a MM flash player, regardless of browser.

    If a number of players hit there will inevitably be bugs and flaws, meanign that now you cannot be sure your Flash app will behave the way it is supposed to. The usefulness of the format will drop.

    And people don't usually know WHY there is a problem .. the will jsut start saying "Flash? It doesn't always work" not caring that its their "player" made of string and bubble gum that is the problem.

    The thing is, the Flahs player is FREE. So the only reason to write this one is political, not technical.

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