Re: Adobe flash is dead
On 11/09/2011 02:51 PM, Andrew Wood wrote:
> Why do Linux distros consider it desirable to install Gnash by default?
> I understand the desire to have a free flash player but Gnash is a very
> poor implementation and I think it tarnishes Linux's image rather than
> enhances it.
>
> Its buggy, a lot of content it cant display, or displays improperly. You
> often end up with ads jammed over the main content of the page because
> Gnash has drawn them in totally the wrong place, it causes browsers to
> crash and last night I was puzzled as to why my CPU fan was going full
> throttle after upgrading wheezy. A quick look at the process list
> revealed Gnash had been re-installed and was thrashing all 4 CPU cores
> just displaying a web ad.
>
> A newcomer to Linux would think this was the best the platform could
> offer, when in reality theyre far better off installing the 'real' Adobe
> player. OK it may be closed source but closed source isnt all evil and
> hats off to Adobe for actually making a Linux version which is pretty
> damn good if you give it a chance.
>
> Id be happy to see Gnash dead.
I don't get it. There are lots of distros that do offer the proprietary
stuff by default. There are choices on this platform. Users should make
the ones that suit them best, and be satisfied with letting each distro
proceed according to its stated philosophy. (There are distros that
consider Debian too "liberal" with respect to licensing issues. They
offer NO repository support for proprietary software at all.)
If you want Gnash dead, you can just let it be dead on your system. The
default Debian installation gives you the ability to use the contents of
the non-free and contrib repositories by default. (I disallow both of
them them from my sources.list file during the expert installation
process.) Or you can go with something like Ubuntu or Mint where the
Adobe player and reader and other stuff are officially supported in the
distro.
I happen to appreciate the efforts of those who develop Gnash and
wouldn't want them (or the devs on the alternative free player
technologies) to cease their efforts. GNU/Linux is about having choices,
not about limiting all of the distros to be the same, and forcing all of
them to do what people with one particular bent want to see in an OS.
Anyway, I doubt that a lot of newbies wander into Debian or Fedora or
Arch, etc. Newbies can get the Adobe stuff right up front in the distros
they're probably most likely to choose.
Oh, and if your system was maxing out four cores trying to display an
ad, you might be concerned about the way your browser is configured.
Maybe a little customization by way of plugins or alteration of browser
settings is in order? There are some very nice capabilities these days
that prevent that sort of nonsense from being a problem. I don't see ads
anywhere I go on the Web -- unless I specifically allow them.
Regards,
Gilbert
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