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Adobe Open Sources Flex SDK Under MPL
andy_from_nc writes "Adobe announced that they are open sourcing their Flex SDK under the Mozilla Public License incrementally by December. This move comes on the heels of Microsoft's announcement of their Silverlight and Adobe's CEO's criticism of it. Adobe's action will likely please other open source developers who use Flex, like me, and offers hope that we'll see a full open source version of Flash one day. You can read Adobe's FAQ on the move as well."
I've seen some talk lately about using Flash to create GUIs for games and other 3D apps. I would think that open-sourcing Flex would get those same people to think about using it instead. I think this is probably a pretty solid move for Adobe and will drive adoption of Flex quite a bit faster.
The ability to improve it yourself definitely doesn't hurt, either.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
Open sourcing Flex is nice and all, but if Adobe really wants to score points with the F/OSS community they will release Linux-native versions of their development environments for Flex development, including a free or community version like Microsoft's "Express" developer products for dotNET.
Does Flex have db access? If so this might make a fun alternative to using JAVA w/ Swing for creating portable applications for viewing datasets.
Adobe is putting small pieces on Linux (and other OSS), just when they feel attacked by MS. If they really wanted to keep doing well, they would move ALL of their work to Linux. Once they do that, they are no longer compete ting directly against MS IN MS's BACKYARD. That is a battle that adobe will lose if they try to take on MS directly.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
The FAQ is actually here.
An open-source Flash would be wonderful. Especially for *BSD users. But it's too early to say whether or not this is just wishful thinking. After all, Flex is only a start.
This is actually a big reason for me to use Ubuntu on my laptop. A fully-working, up-to-date Flash, with proper sound, support, etc. for the big, useful sites which deploy Flash (YouTube, GVid, etc.) on FreeBSD would be a God-send. That's my perspective at least; I really like FreeBSD.
There's a sucker born every minute, isn't there.
What Adobe has done by throwing an "open source" SDK bone is made it appear like they're leaning toward open-source Flash without actually giving away any of the crown jewels. Adobe's move is very much like the gigabyes of "open source" code samples Microsoft makes available in its extensive MSDN library: you can use and modify them for free, but you still need Microsoft's core (and proprietary) software to make them work.
Hey, that makes two Cold-Fusion-related articles in a row!
Microsoft's only market for Silverlight is some universities and eLearning facilities that are too short sighted to use Flash for multimedia delivery; the only way MS could possibly even put a dent in Flash's ubiquity is if they traveled back in time and made sure that Silverlight something that was installed on every windows machine from Windows 98 onwards.
:)
:p
Adobe have a massive user base for the Flash plugin (perhaps one of the highest user bases for any software in the world? (barring MS paint).. interesting question) and the application itself, and I don't see Microsoft making a dent in it in any meaningful way- why should Adobe even bother looking over their shoulder when you can ask most users what Flash is and they'll say 'oh it's that thing you need on the interwebs that does ______'.
Anyway, I've been wanting to make the move to Flex (from hand-coding my XML requests etc) and this is a great chance to do so. Spry integration into Dreamweaver CS3, then open-sourcing Flex? Some moves in the right direction, Adobe
Now, about that XML into After Effects idea I had
*runs off to buy master suite*
When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
Flex Builder 2 is provided as an Eclipse plugin, so it's platform independant.
u nder-linux/.
Quick google for "flex under linux" returns a blog detailing support: http://blog.davr.org/2007/04/22/flex-builder-201-
Adobe really impress me with Flex..
OpenLaszlo, a opensource toolkit that takes declaritive XML and compiles it to SWF. What it can do for datasets and backend interactivity is just awesome. Recommended cause it's neat plus it's way saner then HTML (imho), as long you're doing applications and not semantic stuff, this is where it's at. mmm. replication managers.
CS majors know the time/space tradeoff, but they never get taught the 3rd, crucial, tradeoff of the set: comprehension!
Free development in Flash has been around for a while. I particularly like working in Haxe.
To me, I had never been interested in Flash development because the dev environments I saw always seemed semi-hostile to something other than timeline-based animation. With haxe, it's just you and your text editor - the way programming should be.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
Throughput=1
Speeling=0
This is a suprising move indeed, and changes the game for RIAs big time. As of now Flex is right up there with Laszlo and Co. when technical decision-makers talk about RIA generators and compilers. This dimishes the corporate media hype about Silverthingie from MS to a minor sidenote.
Kudos also to the Laszlo guys and the Motion Twin ActionScript Compiler and all the other projects listed at osflash.org for putting the presure on Adobemedia for the last few years. And Kudos to Sun for leading the way in open sourcing key technologies - I suspect that played a major role in this decision. And thanks to Adobe for scaring the living wee-wee out of Microsoft's Web Division. I can just imagine the look on their faces. Hehe.
Oh, and last but not least, to all the idiots here on slashdot allready ranting about Flash, Flex, Laszlo, RIAs and whatnot: Shut the f*ck up, you don't know squat what you're talking about.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
http://flex.sourceforge.net/
;)
Adobe should concentrate on opening sourcing something of worth instead of reinventing the wheel.
Er who was ranting about those things exactly? Or are you just trying to reinforce the impression that you're very knowledgable on the subject?
Uh.. buddy? This is where you find people who do know what they are talking about. :) Cheers,
well, at least, you can tell when there is actual information in the post. What pressure? Why? "wee-wee"?
C'mon, first cup of coffee?
TCPF
CS majors know the time/space tradeoff, but they never get taught the 3rd, crucial, tradeoff of the set: comprehension!
I checked the website, and Flex seems to be a bundle of different packages. The retail is over $700. Is that what they are open sourcing or just the SDK? Bottom line, can you use it without the 700 package? Kinda like how you can download the .Net framework and write apps without needing Visual Studio
It's not Adobemedia, it's Macrobe. Funnier that way.
Right now their new product is not taking off fast enough and they are trying to head Microsoft off. They've got a more profitable product in Flash and it's their product as opposed to this project they inherited from Macromedia.
This is the last step before they abandon it. Which they won't do right away. First some exec that came over from Macromedia and forcing the project through will resign. Then a couple of months later the updates will stop.
As someone who has witnessed their business people in action at a very high level, the riskiest thing they've done lately is to try a new restaurant for lunch.
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Is there any way to put ad sense ( or another "main stream" ad system) into a flex-flash application?
There are eight ways to Sunday for solving the last mile problem for software (the presentation tier) in a robust fashion. For all but the most trivial of applications, this solution is more trouble than it's worth. Unlike the last mile of the network, the target is not a fixed location.
The shrewd architect knows that there is always a rewrite. A dependency like this at the presentation layer is a liability. Whether interpreter is proprietary or not has little impact on these costs.
illegitimii non ingravare
Flex 2.01 SDK = includes the compiler
.NET, the flash runtime is available on Mac, Win, Linux and Solaris. Flash 9 is NOT available on any PowerPC, Wii, PS3 or PSP (these devices are flash 6 or 7) So untill Adobe releases a flash 9 SDK, and the consoles update to support all the input device buttons (instead emulating the mouse and left click only) This flex SDK is only going to be useful for developing flash from a 'pure code' point of view. You will still need flash to export MXML for vector sprites that aren't primatives.
./configure, make process that your average newbie doesn't get , and also throws away the 'install' process that makes a mess on peoples machines.
Flash 9.0.45 IS the runtime
That's all you need to know, but also note that Adobe has a Apache and IIS server module that allows for server side parsing of of the mxml files, and that there is an additional runtime component for Apollo.
ActionScript 3 (Flash 9 only and later, Flex 2 and later) is the core programming part of it. If you do not have flash, good luck drawing anything. You can still code with any text editor that supports XML and Javascript/Actionscript syntax.
The compiler is written in JAVA.
Unlike
It is a step up from what was available, but Flash still has these limitations:
a) No 3D/OpenGL access, which limits performance to CPU-bound operations
b) It's still interpretated as a virtual machine, so it's not native system performance
c) There is still no support for analog joysticks (See console issues), Flash needs a HID driver
Flash can pretty much replace SDL with a 'web developer friendly' set of tools, which is more than what the average web developer understands about DHTML already. If you want to build something with Flex, and you were considering doing it in SDL (or any other 2D API) now you can, it throws away all the download,
But this is still a technology looking for a use. It can be used for games or applications, but it is likely to be used for net-centric platform independant tools (like those used with several big name internet store fronts) to give users a common interface, instead of being subject to the whims of the platform.
Look on the bright side, If this makes it easier for people to use linux, fine by me. Click on the webapp, use webapp, save to net/local disk, close app. No install, no compiler hell, no dll hell, no dependancy hell, LESS CUSTOMER SUPPORT CALLS, because... duh, everyone will be using the same (with Apollo more likely) and less able to lay blame on their system. "So sorry, the problem is not with our software, contact your computer manufacturer, *click*"
...so it's not like it's earth shattering.
Flex Builder, the main development environment for the Flex SDK we're talking about here, is built on Eclipse. Not a timeline in sight. I highly recommend checking it out.
It's scary being a Flash and Flex developer on Slashdot. You guys are unnaturally rabid.
Now the SDK is even more Free, being under the MPL. Note, however, that its more than just the Flex framework ActionScript code. This open source project will include the Java source code for the compilers.
It's scary being a Flash and Flex developer on Slashdot. You guys are unnaturally rabid.
I can't believe that you would sue that guy because of a simple comment on slashdot.
It would be, if we knew what it was. Yes, I RTFA but this was the closest thing to an explanation:
Gee, that clears everything up.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Actually, adoption has been very strong, and Adobe is using Flex for many, many projects internally (according to company insiders ;))
This statement is standard corporate pablum used to make something sound like it's the latest and greatest when there's nothing else to say about it. They will probably announce a number of well-known corporate brands "adopting" it to try to build some influence too.
This is all very typical media build-up based on half-truths to get something going. Blindly adopting Adobe's heresay as truth is the topic of another conversation.
1. Other posts in this discussion mention some serious problems with the framework.
2. The fact that a staunchly non-free software company has resorted to the Mozilla Public License tells me that trying to drive adoption through their standard practices (non-free license) has failed.
The future doesn't look too bright.
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The only way to really utilize open source flex is if we could get an open source bison.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
Flex has always been open source.
http://flex.sourceforge.net/
I don't know what Adobe's product is, but it is not Flex.
The reason they licensed it under the MPL is so that it could be used in proprietary software. It is OK to call it "open source", but it is not "free software"
uSoft WAS STUPID!!!
See previous slashdotting
#!/bin/sh: /cvsroot
export CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs-mirror.mozilla.org
cvs login
cvs -z3 co -R mozilla/js/tamarin
tar -jcf tamarin_cvs-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.bz2 mozilla
rm -fr mozilla
It was the seventh post or so and the preceeding 5 or 6 where rants and trolling about Flash, Flex, etc. It was way above the ususal ratio, so I thought I'd add my 2 cents to that aswell.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Thats all MS has to do to get wide adoption. Force it as part of IE, or make an option in the download by default. And then put it all over Microsoft.com and MSN.com and break stuff (like navigation) if you dont have it installed.
Granted it wont be forced on people on other platforms but it would get heavy adoption rather quickly. I dont put it beyond them to do this either.
Just thought you guys might like a developer's perspective: Flex is awesome.
.mxml and .as files in gvim, compiled with the command-line mxmlc, and out popped my .swf . I'm not saying I would recommend going without an IDE for a large project, I just like that I can.
I've been playing around with making some simple movies, the results are great. I wrote some performance intensive code and found that the VM performed great. I did a lot of procedural drawing and it performed great (I was particularly worried about that step).
Here is my favorite part: I wrote the whole thing with no IDE or anything. I typed out the
The API is well set up and I consistently find that they have the features and organization that I want. It feels like me and Adobe are on the same page, design-wise (I certainly can't say the same for me and Sun).
The MXML organization works really well. You can embed source in the XML, your source code can refer to objects you declare in XML as if they were variables, and you include a custom class simply by adding an XML tag with your class's name.
Kudos to Adobe, they finally made a developer-friendly way to create flash content.
Trolling about Flash? So tell me, forget open sourcing the Flash plugin, how about just making the spec freely available?
Will this app let me run raw binaries on everyone elses machine?
The purpose of existence is to make money.