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Today's Topics:
- How non-free is Flash? (Erik Moeller)
Message: 1 Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 09:39:25 +0100 From: "Erik Moeller" erik@wikimedia.org Subject: [Foundation-l] How non-free is Flash? To: "Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List" foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org, "Wikimedia Commons Discussion List" commons-l@lists.wikimedia.org Message-ID: b80736c80703060039y498cc1d7o47796e80e7578c60@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
How non-free do we consider Flash to be? The Gnash player appears to be making good progress. Would it be acceptable to permit useful Flash files which work in Gnash and don't require non-free codecs to be uploaded?
I did not see any issues with patents mentioned in the relevant Wikipedia article. The old Macromedia Flash website lists a US patent on "creating gradient fills", but that seems so bizarre as to pose no real threat.
(Let's keep this separate, for now, from the question when a format like Flash would be appropriate, content-wise. I'd like to fully understand the "freeness" first.)
Greetings,
Adobe licenses the flash format specifications to others who are willing to create programs that export to Flash. However, the format itself is not free as in freedom.
Also, Adobe doesn't allow those licensed users to create software that would play Flash, Gnash is most likely a reverse engineered player. And Adobe could change the rules of engagement at any time leaving us with all the Flash content, a player who isn't free and waiting for the Gnash people to work on an update.
With all that being said, a full end to end implementation of SVG should offer the same benefits Flash provides plus it would be free.
Regards, Damián