Flash instructions updated

Bill Davidsen davidsen at tmr.com
Fri May 22 22:13:05 UTC 2009


Paul W. Frields wrote:
> On Fri, 2009-05-22 at 08:07 -0600, Christopher A. Williams wrote:
>> On Thu, 2009-05-21 at 20:12 -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:

>> I would submit that the vast majority of people using Fedora today DO
>> care about software freedom and would prefer to see something like
>> Adobe's plugin released under a GPL (or like) license. But they also
>> still need to get work done right now. And unless / until Adobe licenses
>> their code, or gnash and swfdec mature to the point they are reasonable
>> substitutes for most use cases (it could happen), the non-Free Adobe
>> plugin and its current licensing terms are a practical compromise.
>>
>> I really hope you didn't mean what you wrote in the context in which it
>> appears.
> 
> I think you inferred something I didn't mean.  I wrote that Adobe Flash
> was "not a method of *first resort* for people who care about software
> freedom." (emphasis added)
> 
I think it depends on your version of "care." And I don't think you will state 
it to everyone's satisfaction, because it's a religious thing. There is a range 
of user choice from "only commercial because it must be good, I paid for it," to 
"I'll do without if I can't use free software." I fall in the "I'll use the free 
tools if they work and something else when necessary."

In the case of Flash, people are locked in not by Adobe, but by the people who 
use the format on their sites and in their files. And FOSS tools are playing a 
game of catch-up, with varying degrees of success.


>>From what you said above, I gather that Adobe Flash was not a method of
> first resort for you.  You tried gnash and swfdec, and found that they
> were not yet at the level of capability needed to support your work.
> Only then did you resort to Adobe Flash.  And that's precisely the case
> I thought I was making.  I have no doubt about your commitment to
> software freedom! :-)
> 
> I am in the exact same boat.  I need Flash frequently to view
> proceedings from conferences and on other sites where I track
> information about Fedora.  I try swfdec and gnash regularly to see how
> they're working, and if I can get reasonably close to information that
> would help the projects, I file bugs.  And then I resort to Adobe Flash
> after that.
> 
Precisely the point, you are locked in by the choices of the media creator. And 
Flash, like mp3, is simply the standard by which people have chosen to operate.

> There are probably people using Fedora who don't care as much about
> software freedom, and just want a working Adobe Flash.  For them, it may
> be a matter of first resort, and so that admonition hopefully tells them
> there are alternatives that may work for them, depending on the
> Flash-based sites they frequent.
> 
> Is there a better way I could put this so it's not misunderstood?
> 
I think you have done a fine job, and as noted you are not going to please 
everyone on this topic. Don't agonize because you haven't made everyone happy, 
adjust your message until all sides are equally unhappy, that way you know you 
are being unbiased.

-- 
Bill Davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com>
   "We have more to fear from the bungling of the incompetent than from
the machinations of the wicked."  - from Slashdot




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