"And why else would SVG exist than to give other vector-based drawing formats a run for their money?"
The misconception seems to be that Flash (swf) is simply a vectored drawing format. It is not. The player is more like a tiny, largely powerless virtual machine that runs bytecode at runtime, and is pretty much only capable of graphics display and http-based communications.
"What legally, prevents someone form using the information contained in the file to make a working SWF compiler?"
Nothing. It has been done and is being done again. What keeps it from being practical is the rate at which Macromedia keeps changing the capabilities of the player. Given the new features that have already been demoed to the public, a compiler written this year will be almost completely useless this time next year.
1. It's not required. 2. It's not even in the install, it's a seperate install that is started first if the option is selected. 3. The vast majority of Flash player upgrades are done through the auto-update feature, so the users never have to browse to that page, they simply click "Yes" when prompted (which means they don't even have the option to install the toolbar). 4. The Yahoo tollbar is only even an option on the download page if you view it with Win/IE.
There is a Flash player for linux, but it is only a beta. There was no full release with this version of Flash. My hope is that there will be a complete linux Flash player in the next version.
Most stuff works in the linux player, but some of the more complex stuff, like runtime masking of device fonts, doesn't work. Which, of course, means that you can see most of the useless intro movies, but none of the well-written, worthwhile Flash pieces.
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"And why else would SVG exist than to give other vector-based drawing formats a run for their money?"
The misconception seems to be that Flash (swf) is simply a vectored drawing format. It is not. The player is more like a tiny, largely powerless virtual machine that runs bytecode at runtime, and is pretty much only capable of graphics display and http-based communications.
"What legally, prevents someone form using the information contained in the file to make a working SWF compiler?"
Nothing. It has been done and is being done again. What keeps it from being practical is the rate at which Macromedia keeps changing the capabilities of the player. Given the new features that have already been demoed to the public, a compiler written this year will be almost completely useless this time next year.
1. It's not required.
2. It's not even in the install, it's a seperate install that is started first if the option is selected.
3. The vast majority of Flash player upgrades are done through the auto-update feature, so the users never have to browse to that page, they simply click "Yes" when prompted (which means they don't even have the option to install the toolbar).
4. The Yahoo tollbar is only even an option on the download page if you view it with Win/IE.
Oh, and the swf format is open. There are 3rd party compilers available for both C# and Java.
There is a Flash player for linux, but it is only a beta. There was no full release with this version of Flash. My hope is that there will be a complete linux Flash player in the next version.
Most stuff works in the linux player, but some of the more complex stuff, like runtime masking of device fonts, doesn't work. Which, of course, means that you can see most of the useless intro movies, but none of the well-written, worthwhile Flash pieces.