Should people be getting so excited about this?

[moeFinley]

Adobe Opens the FLV and SWF Formats (http://digg.com/linux_unix/Adobe_Opens_the_FLV_and_SWF_Formats)

Everyone on Digg seems to think this means open source Flash. Is this the case as it doesn't look like it too me?

(Wahoo! 200 Posts :))

[SunnyRabbiera]

well its good news none the less.
And technically this does mean open source flash as there is no more EULA to contend with, now independent developers can make their own implementation of flash.
sure in essence flash belongs to adobe still but one can use open source implementation without worry, so in short this makes gnash and swfdec viable alternatives now

[jespdj]

For details, see this: Adobe Open Screen Project - FAQ (http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/faq/index.html)

I don't see anything there about making Adobe Flash Player open source.

It looks like Adobe is removing licensing fees and restrictions for the SWF and FLV formats, which is ofcourse good for open source development - it would make it easier to develop open source alternatives for Adobe Flash (player and authoring tool). Let's hope this helps gnash or swfdec to make a great Flash player for Linux.

[SunnyRabbiera]

For details, see this: Adobe Open Screen Project - FAQ (http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/faq/index.html)

I don't see anything there about making Adobe Flash Player open source.

It looks like Adobe is removing licensing fees and restrictions for the SWF and FLV formats, which is ofcourse good for open source development - it would make it easier to develop open source alternatives for Adobe Flash (player and authoring tool). Let's hope this helps gnash or swfdec to make a great Flash player for Linux.

right, so this makes flash on par with PDF, free implementation so the alternatives out there have more of a chance.

[SuperSon!c]

actually there's been at least 2 other threads here on the same subject. so yeah, i'd say people are excited.

[sajro]

sure in essence flash belongs to adobe

Sort of like how Ubuntu technically belongs to Mark Shuttleworth, because he started it, but it practically belongs to every user and developer of it.

[moeFinley]

Sort of like how Ubuntu technically belongs to Mark Shuttleworth, because he started it, but it practically belongs to every user and developer of it.

Ubuntu is released under the GPL license. Mark Shuttleworth doesn't have the right to restrict access to any part of it (I believe even the brand and logo are GPL'ed).

Adobe could still do what they like with Flash. If they wanted to withdraw all the support they are giving now and close the doors they could.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Yes, but I dont think that will happen anytime soon, with microsofts silverlight out there giving flash some heat I feel we could see some drastic changes going on at adobe.

[jken146]

Ubuntu is released under the GPL license. Mark Shuttleworth doesn't have the right to restrict access to any part of it (I believe even the brand and logo are GPL'ed).

"Ubuntu" and the logo are TM Canonical, but the software is mainly free software.