Well put..
And if it wasn't for the "non-open-source-but-free" flash player we wouldn't
even be here.
:)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glen Pike" <[email protected]>
To: "Open Source Flash Mailing List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 11:51 PM
Subject: Re: [osflash] Introducing myself and my project.
So what if FP is not open source. It still works on many flavours of
Linux and a generally works out of the box a lot better than an awful
lot of open source software. It was easy to install - I downloaded the
binary and did not have to spend hours compiling and resolving
dependency issues left right and centre unlike my latest Lamp upgrade on
Gentoo or my SVN setup on Ubuntu. Admittedly, there are a few issues
with 64 bit and the myriad of Linux flavours, but these are being worked
on...
Adobe's FP on our Linux boxes at work was the only player I could get
working properly with the requirement of our projects - and that was
with AS1 / AS2 code. Admittedly, I am not a sysadmin guru, but I prefer
decent doc's and help over obscure chatrooms and mailing lists any time
and like to get on with the work of creating nice Flash things rather
than fanny around all day with software that does not work out of the
box. Saying that, the install/update process for Linux distro's is
getting better and the Ubuntu support infrastructure is a great example
of OS goodness, so kudos to the developers who are working on improving
all this stuff.
But... Strk's point highlights a big problem I keep encountering with OS
software including Linux - too much hair splitting and not enough GTD.
If people want an open source flash player, they should stop moaning
about x, y & z and write one. Or bite the bullet and use the one that's
free - in monetary terms. I know which path I would take from a
time=money perspective. I am not saying that Open Source is a bad thing
- I think it's great and I try/hope to contribute in various ways to the
system, but I also have to do my job, be efficient and help my company &
me earn money / put food on the table. At the end of my day, if there
is spare time, I will often try and give something back somewhere, but I
can't look the gift horse in the mouth for too long, hence my choice to
use Flash.
Adobe's FP may be restricted by a license, but how many times do you
actually read a license when you install the software? How many end
users actually give a toss about the license? Do you really think Adobe
are going to pull the plug on all these people because they are flouting
their rules in principle? I think that would be a very bad business
move from anyone's perspective. Fair enough, if someone is making loads
of money out of their product without licensing it properly, but then
people doing that probably have the resources to write their own player.
Besides, AS3 has been out for ages, so how come Gnash does not support
it yet :)
And believe me, I would switch from Windows in a second if I could get
PhotoShop, Flash & Cool Edit working on Linux because I hate Gimp &
Audacity and I don't believe there is a Flash IDE equivalent for Linux
yet, but I maybe wrong.
Sorry to rant, I don't mean to be offensive, but I am passionate about
Flash and even though the player is not Open Source, there is a ton of
OS stuff going on around it which is good.
Glen
--
Glen Pike
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