Flash Player 9 for Linux Beta Has Arrived

I've noticed that this news is getting hyped in the media quite heavily atm. Even pro-Linux sites jump onto the bandwaggon like lemmings. Perhaps one could remind them all that macromedia's flash player is non-free software, after all.

I'm afraid that flash isn't going away. I think the gnash project better get moving if we want an open solution.

well, otoh adobe could release the flash player as free software, as well. not that they would ever do that, they're still in the second millenium. Alternatively, they could just release a proper specification of the flash data file format in order to enable others to build competing implementations. they probably won't do that either. They're just doing the same thing as ms are doing with office, lock-in by non-free software and non-open file formats. No use pushing the gnash project here, reverse engineering something like flash must be quite difficult. It'd probably be easier to develop a free/open alternative format instead.

> They're just doing the same thing as ms

Absolutely.

> It'd probably be easier to develop a free/open alternative format instead.

True, but adaption of that as a useable and used industry standard would be next to impossible.