If only flash on Linux were only two years behind it’s Windows and Mac counterparts, it’s actually five years behind because Adobe have expressed no apparent interest in fixing a bug with Flash and HTML layers, meaning that many of the sites made in the last few years are unusable on Linux.

Mozilla have come to the party by fixing the problems that prevented Flash from operating properly, but it’s been more than a year since that fix hit trunk and was ready for Adobe to test against. We’re now seeing another major release of Flash which doesn’t bring parity to Linux systems, which means we’re in for at least another two years of no parity for Linux systems.

Fortunately open source developers working on a Flash reimplementation called swfdec managed to fix this problem in only a few weeks, so it’s possible to get a version created competent programmers in spite of Adobe’s desire that we be saddled with the incompetence of their one-man Flash Linux development team.

And I don’t agree that it’s that more difficult to write applications for Linux desktop environments. IBM embarked to put Notes on Linux and picked Eclipse RCP to do it - and delivered it a full year ahead of plan…. the technologies are out there.

as far as greater Linux desktop efforts, that was something i stressed to one of the private commenters in an email; there is opportunity there, but i’m not sure it’s perceived.

stacy: thx for keeping it top of mind, stacy - every little bit helps
rektide: SDL - wow, haven’t heard that one in a while.

Glynn: it really isn’t that i disagree with the notion that the API situation on Linux is hugely complicated - a confirmation of Baus’ “Linux is Not Simple” argument. it’s more that if you are a platform provider, in my mind you have an obligation to support the platforms that you choose with minimal lag time from one platform to another. if Sun, for example, released Java for Windows and Apple, and the Linux version was over 2 years behind people would scream bloody murder. that’s the catch to being a platform provider.

nobody ever said it was easy, but the obligation is there.

If they really wanted to be cross platform, they could write Flash ontop of SDL. =-]

If I was at Adobe working on their client side products, I’d spend all my time thinking about how I could make desktop Linux work - not complaining about APIs, blogging about issues, or asking “the community” for ideas. Step up and architect/develop the next chunk of bits you need to have that single API to write to. Donate the code back to the community, work with the distros, and actually invest to do something proactive.

The Linux desktop won’t take off until Adobe takes charge. It’s all opportunity and you have to look at who gains from a Microsoft-less client. Imagine… a client desktop with no Microsoft software on it (unless Stuart Cohen’s right…). It’s everything Windows ISVs have been asking (or complaining about) for years. Finally Microsoft isn’t determining what icons are on the desktop, bundling its own competing software on every desktop, or wooing customers away from you daily with new competitive products…

I don’t care if Adobe has blogs complaining or asking for advice on how to do Flash Player on Linux. Adobe needs to get a real Linux desktop strategy together or they’ll be the next Symantec… and a real Linux desktop strategy is far more than just Flash Player 9.

Sorry for being harsh…. I’m just frustrated by the lack of true leadership from application providers who stand to get all the benefit. Heck, they could even stop complaining about Mac/Intel performance not matching PowerPC and run their apps on PowerPC Linux.

This is competitive strategy 101 - I’m not sure where Adobe’s management team is at on this (maybe they’re hatching a master plan now… but I’ve heard enough to feel they’re not). I’d love to have a dialogue with an executive over there.

BTW, this is my explicit personal viewpoint/rant and not that of my employer.