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Adobe Releases Preview of 64-bit Flash For Linux

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the flash-in-the-pan dept.

Rinisari writes "Finally, the day has come. Adobe has released a pre-release version of the 64-bit Flash player. It is available at the Adobe Labs Flash Player 10 download site immediately. Where are the Windows and Mac versions? 'Release of this alpha version of 64-bit Flash Player on Linux is the first step in delivering upon Adobe's commitment to make Flash Player native 64-bit across platforms. We chose Linux as our initial platform in response to numerous requests in our public Flash Player bug and issue management system and the fact that Linux distributions do not ship with a 32-bit browser or a comprehensive 32-bit emulation layer by default. Until this pre-release, use of 32-bit Flash Player on Linux has required the use of a plugin wrapper, which prevents full compatibility with 64-bit browsers. With this pre-release, Flash Player 10 is now a full native participant on 64-bit Linux distributions.' Windows and Mac OS X 64-bit versions will follow, and the final versions all will be released simultaneously. Tamarin, the JIT compiler in Flash, is now capable of producing 64-bit code and nspluginwrapper is no longer required. There are, however, no plans to release a debugger version of the 64-bit plugin."

10 of 329 comments (clear)

  1. Silverlight by Enderandrew · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Was this prompted by Microsoft supporting Silverlight and Moonlight on 64-bit platforms from day one?

    Either way, thanks for finally making it happen. We now have Java and Flash on 64-bit. No more reason to bitch.

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    1. Re:Silverlight by Richard_at_work · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And x86_64 is not the only 64-bit platform; what about Sparc and Itanic users, for example?

      Out of interest, what do you consider the smallest possible user base that any concession should be made with regard to support? How much effort should be put into supporting either Sparc or Itanic, or indeed any other minority platform?

      And I'm not just talking about closed source apps here, I'm also talking about open source projects and the stance they take, and the whole range of possible support options, from supporting them yourselves (releasing binary or code for the platform) on the one extreme to simply answering questions from a porting developer (since answering questions does take up potentially valuable time) on the other extreme.

    2. Re:Silverlight by hedwards · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Considering the fact that Flash is essentially mandatory for many websites, I'd say that's moot. They don't make money on the player anyways, it's the tools that developers use that they make them money.

      I'd be more than happy to not ever install flash if not for the sites which just don't work without flash. And don't forget about the poor people needing to navigate flash sites with screen readers.

      Or in other words, most of us would be more than happy to not bitch about a lack of Flash support for our OS of choice if we didn't have to have it to make the most of the web. That didn't used to be much of an issue, a few sites had it and most of them were dumb flash games. Then there were the ads which made it beneficial to not have flash. But now...

  2. Why linux first by sakdoctor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "We chose Linux as our initial platform in response to numerous requests in our public Flash Player bug and issue management system"

    Linux users asked, and adobe listened. Great stuff.

    1. Re:Why linux first by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, I read half that and half "this is a great little alpha testing ground while we get our 64-bit act together, once it's somewhat usable we'll release it for Windows and Mac too". Considering my experience with their release builds, I wouldn't sing too many praises just yet.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    2. Re:Why linux first by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Linux users asked, and adobe listened. Great stuff.

      Other considerations:

      There are fewer Linux users and the average technical skill is higher than with other operating systems. This means that if there are problems, the pool of affected users is smaller than with Windows, the users are more likely to be able to recover without Adobe's help, and they're more likely to file bug reports.

      This sounds like a big win for everyone involved. Nicely played, Adobe!

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    3. Re:Why linux first by Shotgun · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Just to put an emphasis on your post, not only are the Linux users more likely to report bugs, their bugs reports are more likely to make sense and contain relevant data.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  3. Re:x86-64 by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The summary talks about 64-bitness in general, while the Linux release is for x86-64 only.

    As I understand it, Flash Player is designed to run on workstations, and the vast majority of workstations still manufactured and marketed for use in home and office environments are x86 or x86-64. Which other architectures are you talking about? ARM-based PDAs?

  4. Who tagged this 'buggy'? by gblues · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's an alpha release. NO SHIT it's buggy. Live with it and file reports so Adobe fixes it, or wait for the final version.

  5. Re:At last!!!! by coolsnowmen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...and with a lot less processor power being eaten up just to run a Flash video.

    here is to hoping, but flash video still is twice as cpu intensive on my 32bit machines than any other video player.