Re: Flash is open?
On 05/13/2010 06:31 PM, Celejar wrote:
Adobe claims that they publish the Flash specs:
"That, certainly, was what we learned as we launched PostScript® and
PDF, two early and powerful software solutions that work across
platforms. We openly published the specifications for both, thus
inviting both use and competition. In the early days, PostScript
attracted 72 clone makers, but we held onto our market leadership by
out-innovating the pack. More recently, we've done the same thing with
Adobe® Flash® technology. We publish the specifications for Flash —
meaning anyone can make their own Flash player. Yet, Adobe Flash
technology remains the market leader because of the constant creativity
and technical innovation of our employees."
http://www.adobe.com/choice/openmarkets.html
I always thought that the reason for all the trouble with Flash on
Linux is that Flash was a closed standard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWF#Licensing
If the spec is published,
why are the FLOSS players so far behind Adobe's player? Is it just
that difficult to design a good player?
I think so. Also, not many people work on gnash and only part of
the spec was opened (since Adobe doesn't own all the tech it uses).
[I see that the above could be read as a whining demand for others to
develop software for me. I don't mean it that way at all; I'm just
curious, since I have an unbounded faith in FLOSS developers to design
great software for anything for which the standards are available ;)]
Celejar
--
Dissent is patriotic, remember?
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