The other day in the #redmonk channel – which has been a bit quiet the past few days as Cote’s on vacation and I’m in and out trying to getting ready to travel back to Denver – my colleague passed along a screencast of Flickr’s new geotagging feature. The problem? It didn’t work for me. It didn’t work for the same reason that Julien’s “Take it With You Wiki” doesn’t work for me, and the same reason that ESPN’s homepage doesn’t work (which may, it must be said, actually be a blessing in disguise) for me.
The reason is simple: Adobe has not released an updated version of its Flash player for the Linux operating system since 2004. Wikipedia describes the situation thusly:
Many feel that Adobe has completely abandoned the Linux market, having not released a new version of the player for Linux since the 2004 release of Flash Player 7. Increasingly, websites insist on the use of newer players, which weakens Adobe’s claim that their Flash Player is “Linux compatible.” Linux users seeking to upgrade to Flash Player 8 are instead redirected to a download page for Flash Player 7 (which they very likely already have installed).
As I understand it, Adobe/Macromedia is focusing their energies on Version 9 for Linux, but I have to question a cross-platform strategy that has a bias against one platform.
If Adobe were to decide that Linux is not a crucial platform for them, I would disagree strongly but respect their right to make that decision. But given that Flash is often touted as near ubiquitous and a truly cross-platform offering, their dramatic lack of support for Linux has to call their commitments in that regard into question.
So c’mon Adobe. As Mr. Van Driesen would say, let’s see a new version of Flash for Linux, M’Kay?
Disclaimer: Adobe is a RedMonk client.
