Linux and Flash in the future

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by Andz, Aug 21, 2013.

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  1. Andz

    Andz Registered Member

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    Now that Adobe will no longer support Flash on Linux, what is the safest way to access Flash-based web sites in Linux? I am under the impression that Google Chrome is not affected by Adobe's decision. However I hesitate to install proprietary software, especially from Google. Now that Opera 15 shares code with Chrome, is Opera a viable alternative for safe Flash browsing in the long term? Or is Opera affected by Adobe's lack of support?

    I apologize in advance if these questions are dumb. I am kind of a n00b.
     
  2. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    I used to wonder about that too, because that supposedly happened a long time ago, maybe a year ago or more. But when I check my flash version here in Debian 7 (after installing the Adobe flash plugin in the repo's), I get:

    LNX 11,2,202,297

    which I assume is fairly recent. So it seems that it IS being updated or maintained, as far as I can tell.

    So, I don't really know whether they dropped support for flash in linux or not. Maybe someone else knows the official story....
     
  3. NGRhodes

    NGRhodes Registered Member

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    I've not heard any announcements since this (which means a bit less than 4 years support left for 11.2):

    http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplayer/...gle-partnering-for-flash-player-on-linux.html

    Cheers, Nick
     
  4. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Thanks Nick.. I didn't know that. Interesting....
     
  5. NormanF

    NormanF Registered Member

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    Adobe's decision to cease Linux platform support won't matter once HTML 5 for video encoding and playback becomes standard. ANY operating system platform should be able to play video if the browser supports HTML 5. :thumb:
     
  6. Andz

    Andz Registered Member

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    So I take it that March 2017 is the time to start worrying. Am I correct?
     
  7. NGRhodes

    NGRhodes Registered Member

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    Yes, but plenty could change by then :)
     
  8. UnknownK

    UnknownK Registered Member

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    If you hesitate installing proprietary softwares, in this case Google chrome, you should also stay away from Adobe flash; flash is proprietary.

    If your only use of flash is playing youtube videos, then you've a good alternative in the form of HTML5. There's a nice userscript named "youtube centre", which has, along with truckload of other excellent features, the ability to play videos in html5 by default.

    In my usage, I have noticed very subtle difference in flash and HTML5 when it comes to performance. Security and privacy-wise, there's no comparison.
     
  9. SirDrexl

    SirDrexl Registered Member

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    HTML5 doesn't specify a standard format for the video though; it's up to the site to pick one (or more) formats. If the page calls for a format your browser/system doesn't support, it won't play. The site may have multiple versions of the video in different formats, but it may not.

    For instance, h.264 could be an issue on Linux if it isn't installed.
     
  10. Andz

    Andz Registered Member

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    Google Play won't let me listen to my music unless I install Flash.
     
  11. UnknownK

    UnknownK Registered Member

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    To begin with, a codec like h.264, to my understanding, isn't really any format or standard. Rather, it's simply an encoding-decoding implemantation of digital data streams: a sort of computer programme. A free software like libav/ffmpeg can encode and decode h.264 videos.

    Regarding this, there is a good news: Firefox 24, which is going to be released in september, is coming with h.264 support for linux. It won't be coming with a built-in decoder for this proprietary "format"; instead, it will use the operating systems's decoder to decode it.
    Read: http://www.kabatology.com/06/26/h-264-support-for-firefox-nightly-linux-has-landed/
    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fire...ux-Other-Platforms-Still-Waiting-363072.shtml

    So, I don't think it'll be any difficult to play h.264 when Firefox 24 arrives. You just need to install libav/ffmpeg, the gstreamer-libav plugin, and turn on media.gstreamer.enabled to true in Firefox 24.

    In debian, you'll do: sudo apt-get install libav-tools gstreamer1.0-libav. It'll also work in various buntus, Mint, and other Debian derivative distros.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2013
  12. UnknownK

    UnknownK Registered Member

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  13. malexous

    malexous Registered Member

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    It is no use for a lot of Flash only videos. SMPlayer is useful for them. When YouTube is acting up youtube-dl is helpful too. As it downloads the video, I watch with SMPlayer, and because YouTube is acting up, I have to keep restarting youtube-dl.
     
  14. UnknownK

    UnknownK Registered Member

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    I installed SMplayer, but couldn't find a way to play youtube videos through it. You are using SMplayer or SMtube? SMtube is in the debian experimental repo, so this is out of bounds for me.

    If I can play YT videos through SMplayer, I'll just --purge remove VLC. I found a way of playing YT videos through VLC though, but it requires a latest version of VLC which I can't get; VLC in wheezy is very outdated, and there is no newer version in backports.
     
  15. malexous

    malexous Registered Member

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    It will struggle to play YouTube videos using an older version, too.

    Just the other day I needed to use
    to be able to watch a certain (Vevo) video. That feature was introduced in the last update, 0.8.6.

    Open > URL or Ctrl + U or drag the URL to the SMPlayer window or through the command-line.
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2013
  16. UnknownK

    UnknownK Registered Member

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    I've SMplayer 0.8.0 as it's the one which is in wheezy; obviously, it wasn't able to play YT videos which I threw at it.
     
  17. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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    Even when HTML5 becomes the accepted standard, there probably is no guarantee (that it will encompass all of the special features that Adobe Flash Player offers) that some videos implemented with the full set of the latest features of Adobe SWF will be able to play.

    -- Tom
     
  18. Andz

    Andz Registered Member

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    Is Flash offered in Red Hat or not? Earlier I found a Red Hat article saying the answer is no. And then I saw this. What is the deal?
    I know this is not a Red Hat forum but I am grateful for any enlightenment.
     
  19. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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  20. chronomatic

    chronomatic Registered Member

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    Google Chrome on Linux comes with its own flash that *is* the latest version. If you don't use Chrome, you have to settle for 11.2 which is an old version that is only updated with security updates. So it's fine (and safe) to use, but it's old.
     
  21. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Already noted, but I (like most Linux users) prefer open-source Chromium that is already available in the repository.

    Now's the time to wait and see, not as if having 11.2 Flash prevents anything important online.
     
  22. UnknownK

    UnknownK Registered Member

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    Confirmed. Firefox24 is playing MPEG4s and other proprietary codecs in linux using Gstreamer framework. I tested it myself.

    Now there is even less excuse for keep using proprietary flash player.
     
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