Adobe Flash is Dead

[JoeFootball]

"Flash is no longer available to download since December 31, 2020, and Adobe starts blocking Flash content from running altogether on January 12, 2021."

Apparently, it was still officially supported until yesterday. I had no idea. Anyway, here's an interesting article on its history ...

https://www.howtogeek.com/700229/adobe- ... hat-means/

[BenTrabetere]

May its death go unmourned.

[DAMIEN1307]

Can we have a New Orleans style funeral where they are playing jazz music and dancing in the streets???...pretty please...lol...DAMIEN

[antikythera]

You can if you like DAMIEN

It's been dead to me for at least 2 years. I've not used it at all as HTML5 even when it was under testing by the BBC for iPlayer was my preference. The video compression methods available for HTML5 allow for much better quality streams.

Fortunately HTML5 is fully optimised now because in the early days it was a resource hog. Now it's roughly the same as Flash was for CPU and GPU loading.

What I would say is people running Mint that's been upgraded from 17 or 18 will need to check if flash is still installed and remove it as it won't be done for them. The same goes for folks who may have installed pepperflash at some point.

[DAMIEN1307]

It's been dead to me for at least 2 years.

I got ya beat on that one, i havent had flash installed on anything since 2012 or 2013...just saw no further need for it, plus knew it was a major security risk.

What I would say is people running Mint that's been upgraded from 17 or 18 will need to check if flash is still installed and remove it as it won't be done for them. The same goes for folks who may have installed pepperflash at some point.

A good piece of advice since i can remember only 2 months ago here in the forums that someone said they absolutely needed to have flash, he was told at the time that flash was already dead, It just didnt have the decency to lie down for a decent burial...lol...DAMIEN

[slipstick]

Can we have a New Orleans style funeral where they are playing jazz music and dancing in the streets???...pretty please...lol...DAMIEN

Or better yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EroOICwfD3g

[ThrashZone2]

Hi,
Yet if you check for updates in windows 10 it will not find the update
Kind of funny

[Schultz]

I don't know why people are happy over this. Flash was pretty iconic for the early days of the web. A lot of games use flash. I think Adobe should have released the code to the open source community instead of nuking it.

FTR, I haven't had flash on my system for at least a couple of years. I do have a copy of a flash archive pre the self-destruct crap Adobe put in (just in case).

[sleeper12]

A lot of games use flash.

Yep, and I will miss a few of those games. I used flash yesterday right up until I had to remove it.

[Schultz]

Yep, and I will miss a few of those games. I used flash yesterday right up until I had to remove it.

Looks like it can still be downloaded from the archive.org website. Versions 32.0.0.371 and later have the built in time bomb.

[sleeper12]

Looks like it can still be downloaded from the archive.org website. Versions 32.0.0.371 and later have the built in time bomb.

I don't see it, where is it hiding?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I don't know why people are happy over this. Flash was pretty iconic for the early days of the web. A lot of games use flash. I think Adobe should have released the code to the open source community instead of nuking it...

Flash was buggier than a flop house bed, most of the bugs being security holes. Back on Windows 7, before I gave Flash (and, later, all of Adobe) the old heave ho, every time I turned around, there was a new update for Flash. Even worse, Adobe often took a year or so to issue patches for newly discovered security holes. Flash needed to go away!

[Schultz]

Even worse, Adobe often took a year or so to issue patches for newly discovered security holes. Flash needed to go away!

You know, you can play flash games offline. How about freedom of choice?

[Portreve]

Can we have a New Orleans style funeral where they are playing jazz music and dancing in the streets???...pretty please...lol...DAMIEN

Heck yeah! That may be one of the best ideas you've had this year!

[sleeper12]

every time I turned around, there was a new update for Flash. Even worse, Adobe often took a year or so to issue patches for newly discovered security holes.

So, you wanted less or more updates? All I know is I never had a problem with Flash.

[Schultz]

Yeah, I don't understand it either. The problem really wasn't with Flash itself, but with Adobe, IMHO. And in the years I used flash, I also never got infected through it. Even though, like I said, I haven't had flash installed for years, my problem with this is:

1) the code wasn't released to the open source folks (anybody who'd be against this shouldn't be using Linux in my opinion)
2) even worse, then, putting in a self-destruct mechanism in the last few versions.

Anybody who's "happy" over this is basically saying to hell with those of you who play flash games.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Anybody who's "happy" over this is basically saying to hell with those of you who play flash games.

No, I'm happy because software designers will stop creating programs that require Flash, leaving people who need (or want) those programs being forced to risk the security of their data.

I suppose you think it is evil that Mint no longer has a 32 bit version or that people no longer can play their games from their Commodore 64s anymore. Sooner or later, all software will become obsolete.

[Schultz]

No, I'm happy because software designers will stop creating programs that require Flash, leaving people who need (or want) those programs being forced to risk the security of their data.

Nobody is "forcing" anybody to do anything (except Adobe, ironically). If anybody still wants to use flash, I'd assume they would know how to be extra careful not to get infected. I for one don't need 'big brother', whether the government or a corporation, making my choices for me. Freedom of choice. And if you really feel this way, you ought to stop using web browsers as that is usually the biggest risk factor today for security. (Oh yeah, they're updated quite often also. )

I suppose you think it is evil that Mint no longer has a 32 bit version or that people no longer can play their games from their Commodore 64s anymore. Sooner or later, all software will become obsolete.

Comparing what's going on with flash to 32 bit computers dying and being replaced by 64 bit computers is comparing apples to oranges.

[antikythera]

The difference being the casual offline games use flash standalone and should have the version they need bundled with them. I have a couple saved on a USB stick that I have not played for years. Both of them have versions of flash standalone with them and run fine without an internet connection. However, I have newer versions or substitutes of those games that don't require flash so play them instead these days when I get the urge. The kids and my Wife play them much more than I do.

One was Tripeaks Solitaire from the Pogo website's offline games section and Aisleriot has that style of game in it, called Triple Peaks without the cheesy graphics.

Another example would be Bejeweled 2. I have Bejeweled 3 installed from a retail CD by PopCap along with Peggle and Zuma which has a classic mode that does everything Bejeweled 2 did running through PlayOnLinux and it doesn't require flash. All it needs is DX9 full setup which PoL provides and a tweak to the D3D10 library settings in WINE config to force native (Windows) only. It runs perfectly in Ultra resolution, actually much smoother than it did in Windows.

[CtrlAltDel]

Yeah, I don't understand it either. The problem really wasn't with Flash itself, but with Adobe, IMHO. And in the years I used flash, I also never got infected through it. Even though, like I said, I haven't had flash installed for years, my problem with this is:

1) the code wasn't released to the open source folks (anybody who'd be against this shouldn't be using Linux in my opinion)
2) even worse, then, putting in a self-destruct mechanism in the last few versions.

Anybody who's "happy" over this is basically saying to hell with those of you who play flash games.

Schultz, if you ever do want to play flash games relatively safely, I think???, try Ruffle. There is a standalone app available and a browser plugin. To play a handful of classic flash games like PacMan, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Frogger, etc... that I have d/l'ed to hard-drive, this works okay. Donkey Kong doesn't work but, 7 out of the ten classic .swf files I have saved do work.

I downloaded the desktop application file, checked allow executing as program, and that was it. No installation and it is almost like an appimage. It may be an appimage, I'm not sure what it is really because it lists itself as an unknown file. OMG. Proceed with caution, I guess.



Here is a link if you want to check it out. I think it's legit. It also has a very competent and detailed readme file included.

https://ruffle.rs/#what-is-ruffle

This reputable site linked below seems to think it's a safe program.

https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/20/ ... emulation/