Given the comprehensive motion graphics libraries available under Linux and the highly competent developers out there, is it really beyond the Maemo community to come up with an open source Flash 10.1 workalike plugin that would work on the N900 ?
Given the comprehensive motion graphics libraries available under Linux and the highly competent developers out there, is it really beyond the Maemo community to come up with an open source Flash 10.1 workalike plugin that would work on the N900 ?
the issue is not the availability of graphics libraries or the competence of developers, but the fact that Flash is proprietary software and a proprietary format, with little to no documentation available (other than how to create Flash movies or apps).
developers have to tediously reverse-engineer Flash's features, and that takes time and is error-prone. people with no background in programming tend to oversimplify this, but it really is hard work.
take a look at gnash, for example. this project exists for a number of years, and still has a long way to go.
and, to be honest - trying to provide an open source implementation of a proprietary format isn't exactly something OSS developers like to do, because it benefits the company who doesn't want to share its code in the first place.
i'd rather see flash die and alternatives like HTML5 or SVG take over instead of further leveraging Adobe on other platforms.
Someone should just steal it and leak it already lol..from Nokia or Adobe..doesn't matter who. We deserve it and all we got after all this time is nothing. Just alot of buts and ifs...One year is one year. Not saying that I can't live without Flash 10.1, but it's the principle about not getting it which I dislike. Peter said Nokia is working on it, true, and it's perhaps not as easy as it seems, but come on... Hopefully in PR1.4...if there is any to begin with.
the issue is not the availability of graphics libraries or the competence of developers, but the fact that Flash is proprietary software and a proprietary format, with little to no documentation available (other than how to create Flash movies or apps).
developers have to tediously reverse-engineer Flash's features, and that takes time and is error-prone. people with no background in programming tend to oversimplify this, but it really is hard work.
take a look at gnash, for example. this project exists for a number of years, and still has a long way to go.
and, to be honest - trying to provide an open source implementation of a proprietary format isn't exactly something OSS developers like to do, because it benefits the company who doesn't want to share its code in the first place.
i'd rather see flash die and alternatives like HTML5 or SVG take over instead of further leveraging Adobe on other platforms.
What about LightSpark? It seems to be a very promising project...
What about LightSpark? It seems to be a very promising project...
indeed it does...
haven't tried it so i can't comment on the compatibility with native Flash, but these two (major) points from the Lightspark Wiki could be difficult to overcome for adaptation:
*) JIT compilation of Actionscript to native x86 bytecode using LLVM
*) Hardware accelerated rendering using OpenGL Shaders (GLSL)
i'm not sure how much effort is needed to compile for the ARM architecture instead of x86 using LLVM (or if it's possible at all), and GLSL is only rudimentary supported by OpenGL ES 2.0 as far as i know.
this sentence from the lightspark FAQ makes it seem even more unlikely that it would work:
"Lightspark uses some rather advanced OpenGL techniques that requires good support from video drivers."
not even debian maintains armel packages of lightspark, and that's a very bad sign... they usually compile for every arch possible.
tx for the hint btw, didn't know about this project until now
indeed it does...
haven't tried it so i can't comment on the compatibility with native Flash, but these two (major) points from the Lightspark Wiki could be difficult to overcome for adaptation:
*) JIT compilation of Actionscript to native x86 bytecode using LLVM
*) Hardware accelerated rendering using OpenGL Shaders (GLSL)
i'm not sure how much effort is needed to compile for the ARM architecture instead of x86 using LLVM (or if it's possible at all), and GLSL is only rudimentary supported by OpenGL ES 2.0 as far as i know.
this sentence from the lightspark FAQ makes it seem even more unlikely that it would work:
"Lightspark uses some rather advanced OpenGL techniques that requires good support from video drivers."
not even debian maintains armel packages of lightspark, and that's a very bad sign... they usually compile for every arch possible.
tx for the hint btw, didn't know about this project until now
Maybe we should ask developers for arm and OpenGL ES 2.0 support...what do you think?
