Updates on Flash Player 9 for Linux
There has been some interesting stuff coming out about Flash Player 9 for Linux, and I wanted to ut it all in one place for those following the development.
Penguin.SWF has a list of the libraries that Linux users will be expected to have if they want to run Flash Player 9. There's some good discussion in the comments.
James Ward, a Flex 2 evangelist, has a screenshot of Flash applications running on Linux. He also has some more information on just what status of the player is. From James' post:
Most Flex 2 apps I have tested are working, but there are still frequent browser crashes and other bugs that the team needs to fit before we can send a beta out the door. But we are close and I can’t wait to watch the very eager Linux community get their hands on Flash Player 9.Adobe recently released a Flash Player 9 Update Beta and according to Emmy Huang, the newest update of the Player will be the one that will be available for Linux meaning that the new full screen mode will be available for Linux users. The best nugget of information with regards to Linux:
I know the first question that just popped into your head is "What about Linux?" The answer is: QE has not skipped a beat and is starting the beta certification of the Linux player which will go live on Adobe Labs when it passes the certification tests.
I haven't had any conversations with Adobe regarding the Linux player, but my guess is that we'll see a beta release next week in two weeks. As Emmy says, they have started the beta certification process and Adobe's big MAX conference is next week two weeks from now. Last year, Adobe announced the Flex 2 alpha availability at the conference and it went over very well. I think we'll see something very similar this year with the Linux player. I'm going to be at the conference, so as soon as I get wind, I'll be updating here.
I'm stoked to see it actually working, and I can't wait to see the response from the Linux community. I hope this puts a bit of pressure on Microsoft to talk about WPF/E. I'm planning on installing Ubuntu on my machine this week so that I can be ready to test it out when the time comes.