Who is to blame for flash problems? Adobe, Mozilla, or the web designers?

[darweth]

I love Linux. :) I have been using it exclusively for close to 5 months now and cannot even think of going back to Windows. However, one thing that really eats away at my gut is broken state of Flash in the Linux world. I'd almost rather there not be any Flash 9 at all for us than there exist this buggy, broken excuse for an implementation. I know we still remain small in number and weak in the market, but why provide Flash at all if you are not going to work to maintain it and ensure cross-platform compatibility? Flash crashes FF on Linux more than it ever did on Windows. A billion sites do not even WORK properly. Without Flashblock, I would not be able to surf the net. Here are two examples that bug me, as a big sports fan:

http://espn.go.com/

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/

Notice how the menus cannot drop down over the flash junk on the left. This is simply inexcusable! I have even encountered this error on technology sites! Even Linux-oriented sites. This is just one problem I have with it. I could list more but I am bitter and frustrated. It is little things like this that make me wish I still had access to a M$ box. Silly, I know.

[mech7]

That has nothing to do with flash but with an incorrect z-index :) it's just crap webdesign ;)

[aysiu]

I vote all of the above, but mainly the web designers.
A billion sites do not even WORK properly. I'd say probably one thousand of those "billion sites" actually should be using Flash. The rest should use PHP, HTML, XML, CSS, etc.

[matthinckley]

That has nothing to do with flash but with an incorrect z-index :) it's just crap webdesign ;)

I don't know anything about flash, but if it is bad design why does the site work fine in windows (using firefox)

EDIT: the espn site is the one I tried in windows.. also it works fine in IE6 using ies4linux

[aysiu]

I don't know anything about flash, but if it is bad design why does the site work fine in windows (using firefox) Crap website design tests the website on a limited set of environments. Good website design tries to account for different browsers, different operating systems, different screen resolutions, and different internet speed connections.

[Nikron]

I don't get anything wrong with those sites... I haven't had a problem with flash.

[matthinckley]

Crap website design tests the website on a limited set of environments. Good website design tries to account for different browsers, different operating systems, different screen resolutions, and different internet speed connections.

I see.. I guess what I am wondering is if there is a way to ?fix? the flash in linux so that it works the way it does in windows?

[saulgoode]

The only sites that should use Flash are games or interactive demos (such as geometry tutorials). Even those could usually be handled using other solutions (e.g., JavaScript).

The current state of Flash (closed, proprietary, platform limited) predicates that its usage be limited to only that similar to an online game where the user is expected to have software (a game client) specifically designed for that game.

Flash should not be used as a publication format. The current situation is no different than if websites used MS Word format text and expected you to own MS Word to visit a site.

Adobe seems to stubbornly ignore that the marketing policies of their subsidiary MacroMedia violate their own standards of appropriate business practices. Adobe is lying to their customers when they claim Flash to be cross-platform and they are abusing the Web by keeping the format proprietary while promoting it as a universal solution.

The sooner Flash is relegated to the dumpsters of proprietary publishing formats, the better.

[Henry Rayker]

It would probably be better to ask is it possible to tell these yahoos with messed up implementations to either learn to handle it properly or to not use it at all. It would be great if they tested their implementations properly, but alas, no one cares about the fringe cases.

EDIT: misspelled profanity sometimes makes it past the filter =\

[darweth]

Interesting responses. I agree on wishing there was a simple way to communicate with these people. I feel pretty powerless.

I also agree with saulgoode about the horror of flash in general. People should not be required to install proprietary crap just to surf the web. Mandating flash is tyrannical. ;)

What about OSX? Do these Flash errors occur there with Firefox/Safari/Camino?

[forcesofhabit]

I rarely seem to have problems with Adobe Flash. When I was using GNASH (the GNU substitute) I had a lot of problems.

[jrusso2]

I am still running the beta flash 9 it worked so good I never upgraded it

[Hex_Mandos]

Flash sucks. It's not useless, but it should be used much less than it's being used today.

[robtg]

Those sites work fine on my Feisty/Firefox laptop

-Rob