Gaming Why are they getting rid of flash?

FAST6191

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It costs to run/install (they do actually pay a little bit for the video codecs it hosts inside it), costs to host, costs to support (even if "no support is offered"), it acts as a vector for malware (it is literally a programming language that runs in your browser, and an absolutely awful one that leaks like a sieve on the security front) and this is unlikely to change as phones tend to ignore it/have done away with it and they are the main thing by which most access the internet these days (not to mention the remaining PC browsers have largely stopped supporting the methods it used to interface with browsers).

There is the legacy support option, there are even those looking at making open source implementations of the concept (see lightspark and gnash for two somewhat active projects, few others were shuttered), but if the costs of keeping it around outweigh the negatives then axing it is generally what gets done.
 

pleasehelpme2

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It costs to run/install (they do actually pay a little bit for the video codecs it hosts inside it), costs to host, costs to support (even if "no support is offered"), it acts as a vector for malware (it is literally a programming language that runs in your browser, and an absolutely awful one that leaks like a sieve on the security front) and this is unlikely to change as phones tend to ignore it/have done away with it and they are the main thing by which most access the internet these days (not to mention the remaining PC browsers have largely stopped supporting the methods it used to interface with browsers).

There is the legacy support option, there are even those looking at making open source implementations of the concept (see lightspark and gnash for two somewhat active projects, few others were shuttered), but if the costs of keeping it around outweigh the negatives then axing it is generally what gets done.
Then why is abobe axing it themselves? Its like their most popular thing, wouldn't they lose money by doing this?
 
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FAST6191

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Is it their most popular, or indeed most profitable as that is one of the main things to care about? They own Acrobat (PDF reader and creator, de facto standard for most as well as well as indesign to write the things/do layout), the whole photoshop, illustrator, premiere, audition, after effects... creative pursuits suite that also forms the standard for most non high end professional uses (and even has a few of those) and a whole bunch of stuff most members of the public have not heard of but actually are heavy hitters in business world.

Flash might have meant something back when newgrounds was popular but today HTML5 and associated technologies have rendered flash's niche kind of pointless and then you end up with an expense that causes security woes for people. They similarly don't get any kind of control from it or drive people to their platforms (remember the old saying that if you are not paying for it then you are the product).

It may have been at one point but nobody uses it now as they already effectively killed it a while back.
Did they kill it or was it already a zombie kept alive only by legacy sites, bad banks and worse government websites before Apple saying nay on phones brought it to its knees and then Google saying HTML5/webgl is what we are using for the main video platform for most of the planet?
 

pleasehelpme2

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Is it their most popular, or indeed most profitable as that is one of the main things to care about? They own Acrobat (PDF reader and creator, de facto standard for most as well as well as indesign to write the things/do layout), the whole photoshop, illustrator, premiere, audition, after effects... creative pursuits suite that also forms the standard for most non high end professional uses (and even has a few of those) and a whole bunch of stuff most members of the public have not heard of but actually are heavy hitters in business world.

Flash might have meant something back when newgrounds was popular but today HTML5 and associated technologies have rendered flash's niche kind of pointless and then you end up with an expense that causes security woes for people. They similarly don't get any kind of control from it or drive people to their platforms (remember the old saying that if you are not paying for it then you are the product).


Did they kill it or was it already a zombie kept alive only by legacy sites, bad banks and worse government websites before Apple saying nay on phones brought it to its knees and then Google saying HTML5/webgl is what we are using for the main video platform for most of the planet?
Shouldn't they update it then? To get rid of security issues? I know a lot of people still use flash.
 
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Worldblender

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Shouldn't they update it then? To get rid of security issues? I know a lot of people still use flash.
With only less than 3 months left before Adobe cuts support for Flash entirely, it's unlikely they'll keep coming in. There may be some more security updates coming in now, but they'll stop coming in starting next year on January 1.
Where do you find people still using Flash? Most websites that I frequent have largely stopped using Flash in preparation for this EOL happening at the end of this year on December 31.
 
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Jayro

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HTML5 has basically replaced Flash, and most people have moved on from Flash. Flash is a huge security risk. Remember the days of clicking on an ad, and it infected your computer? You can thank Adobe Flash for that.
 
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FAST6191

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Shouldn't they update it then? To get rid of security issues? I know a lot of people still use flash.
They have to pay for each install made (usually a few cents but still an outgoing, see software patents on video playback for that one), the code itself is ancient and legendarily hard to work with (need then a good coder, not just someone that slept through coding school, which does not come cheap), said security updates would also have to not break existing applications (some of which may use the suspect coding practices employed in it), most browsers have stopped supporting its way of interacting with them (which would require a fairly significant rewrite, which given the code quality is unlikely to end well), I doubt it drives anybody to buying their tools to make animations/applications like it once did (no sensible business would use it today, and no kids are wanting to use it to make animations to share with their friends/try to make money on stickdeath) and if phones are the way of the future (grim one if you ask me but still seems to be the case) then is unlikely to grow, even more so as there is a perfectly viable replacement that already has widespread adoption.

To that end they are going to have to put down actual money to keep it around, something that businesses tend to not want to throw away on something that is going to neither gain them any money nor any market share.

Flash filled a niche at one point in time. It was mismanaged, incompetence and lack of forethought, and a replacement rose up. Today it does not have a purpose and usually represents a negative for having it installed, to Adobe, the would be web developer and to the end user.
 

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