Matsuda Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Mozilla's Shumway project aims to run the Web's Flash programs without the Flash plugin. It's now running by default for some video tasks in the cutting-edge version of Firefox.Through a Firefox project called Shumway, Mozilla on Thursday took an important early step toward building a Web that works without Adobe Systems' Flash Player.Flash spread widely more than a decade ago so website developers could embrace games, streaming video, animation, graphics and other features that were hard or impossible with a regular browser. Such browser plugins now are on their way out, with Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs banishing them from the iPhone, YouTube moving to the HTML standard, and Microsoft calling them a relic. But there is still plenty of Flash used in the real world, so Mozilla's Shumway is designed to keep Flash-infused websites from breaking even when Firefox doesn't have Flash.On Thursday, Mozilla programmers enabled Shumway, though only for product tour videos on Amazon, only on Windows and OS X, and only in the cutting-edge Nightly version of Firefox that's not stable enough for regular folks."The Firefox Nightly channel now uses Shumway to play Flash videos on Amazon.com," said Mozilla programmer Chris Peterson in a mailing list message. "The Shumway team has been improving compatibility with Flash video players and will whitelist more Flash video sites soon."Yes, it's only a baby step, but it's an important one in the history of the Web. Flash was ascendant during the years when Microsoft's Internet Explorer was overwhelmingly dominant but Microsoft wasn't interested in improving it. Now as the Web enters its post-Flash era, it's more powerful, better suited to everything from tiny smartphone screens to start TVs, and increasingly adept at running interactive Web apps, not just static Web pages. This latter category is particularly important since so many programmers are concentrating on mobile apps for Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Plugins expand what Web browsers can do, but they also open up new security holes and crash problems. Despite that, weaning the Web from Flash is a long effort.Microsoft tried to curtail browser plugins in its IE when running in Windows 8 tablet-friendly Metro mode, but had to relent to cope with Flash pervasiveness, for example. Google is gradually shutting out most plugins, but it's keeping Chrome's built-in version of Flash Player.Browser makers have begun pushing hard to leave plugins behind by creating Web standards that can be built directly into the browsers themselves. That's a sound approach for new websites, but not everyone is moving to the new approach fast, and there are countless older sites that likely will never be updated.But the long-term trend is clear: Flash is on its way out. Even though it's still widely used for things like streaming video and advertisements, Flash doesn't work on Android and iOS, and Adobe has shifted its future development work toward Web standards.Shumway itself uses those very standards. For example, it processes Flash programming instructions with its own JavaScript module. Mozilla plans to improve Shumway to take on more Flash duties, including Flash ads.Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted February 14, 2015 Administrator Share Posted February 14, 2015 I'm a bit worried that by the time Shumway gets added to the builds used most widely, that is final and beta builds, Flash might be hard to find on most places on internet.This is because many times features added to nightlies take a long time to enter in stable builds, that is, not necessarily in the same version of nightly becoming stable later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylemessiah Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I'm a bit worried that by the time Shumway gets added to the builds used most widely, that is final and beta builds, Flash might be hard to find on most places on internet.This is because many times features added to nightlies take a long time to enter in stable builds, that is, not necessarily in the same version of nightly becoming stable later on.I know what you mean, its taking a long time. But there will always be plenty of websites, probably a lot no longer actively maintained, that will still have flash content as webmasters are lazy at moving to new standards like html5. so this will still be needed, and i expect will arrive sooner than we think.If you think of when Mozilla moved to their pdf js, it didnt take that long....and one less piece of Adobe crapware to install on a PC, if people still needed a reader on top of that or didnt use Firefox, there was of course Foxit reader.....Moving to essentially rebuild the code in js makes sense as its native and doesnt resort to running external executables, a plus in security alone there.Any attempt to break the stranglehold we have on badly written security hole ridden plugins we have had to use should be applauded.Like LibreOffice making decent strides to remove the need for java to run its offuice suite, you can effectively do this now if you dont use some of the more exotic functions.As someone who builds and admins PC's i'll be popping a cock the day i no longer have to install Adobe (especially - some of the worst written software on earth) and Oracle crap on a PC.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 the problem with Firefox and HTML5, it dont even play 1080p videos so you have to induce flash to play them its just as easy for me open up 1080p YouTube videos in my stand alone player than fool with this . Some big sites like hulu use flash, most sites that have protected video streams still have flash. So its a long ways from being not used . Seems every time they invent something new it just opens up more backdoors in browsers . Lets hope Shumway dont have this effect like HTML5 did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylemessiah Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 the problem with Firefox and HTML5, it dont even play 1080p videos so you have to induce flash to play them its just as easy for me open up 1080p YouTube videos in my stand alone player than fool with this . Some big sites like hulu use flash, most sites that have protected video streams still have flash. So its a long ways from being not used . Seems every time they invent something new it just opens up more backdoors in browsers . Lets hope Shumway dont have this effect like HTML5 did.Lol, when youre on 3rd world internet like we have in Australia, thanks to the Liberal government and the monopoly that is Telstra (who dont spend any money on infrastructure unless theyre getting a huge backhander from the government), you dont try and stream in 1080 :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I dont really like being confined to watching anything in my browser we live in a age were many hook up blu-ray players and watch what ever they download on there TV.Stuff like YouTube I no longer have to use my browser my player works just fine for any quality . Now there still sites with DRM were I have no choice but to watch in my browser unless I want to cap it and watch it latter most of these use flash.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs18 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Firefox tiptoes toward a world without Adobe FlashHow I wish they would stop tiptoeing and start sprinting towards a world (ideally) without Adobe Flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffi Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Firefox tiptoes toward a world without Adobe FlashHow I wish they would stop tiptoeing and start sprinting towards a world (ideally) without Adobe Flash. I wish they start focussing on the important stuff first: kill pdf! If adobe deserves to be hated it's for pdf not flash, god how I hate pdf's, especially forms, which you require to print, then fill in than scan, instead of just allowing them to be filled in and mailed. And it's just so slow and they always scroll in the wrong direction, copy/pasting from them is a nightmare, searching them is slow and awkward... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs18 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Firefox tiptoes toward a world without Adobe FlashHow I wish they would stop tiptoeing and start sprinting towards a world (ideally) without Adobe Flash.I wish they start focussing on the important stuff first: kill pdf! If adobe deserves to be hated it's for pdf not flash, god how I hate pdf's, especially forms, which you require to print, then fill in than scan, instead of just allowing them to be filled in and mailed. And it's just so slow and they always scroll in the wrong direction...Personally, given my personal config. - neither the flash nor the pdf is of any threat to me.I wish they start focusing on everything, without discrimination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffi Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Firefox tiptoes toward a world without Adobe FlashHow I wish they would stop tiptoeing and start sprinting towards a world (ideally) without Adobe Flash. I wish they start focussing on the important stuff first: kill pdf! If adobe deserves to be hated it's for pdf not flash, god how I hate pdf's, especially forms, which you require to print, then fill in than scan, instead of just allowing them to be filled in and mailed. And it's just so slow and they always scroll in the wrong direction...Personally, given my personal config. - neither the flash nor the pdf is of any threat to me. I wish they start focusing on everything, without discrimination. Flash is just a security problem but it works very well, better than html5 but pdf's just plain such in their usage and you cannot avoid them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs18 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Firefox tiptoes toward a world without Adobe FlashHow I wish they would stop tiptoeing and start sprinting towards a world (ideally) without Adobe Flash.I wish they start focussing on the important stuff first: kill pdf! If adobe deserves to be hated it's for pdf not flash, god how I hate pdf's, especially forms, which you require to print, then fill in than scan, instead of just allowing them to be filled in and mailed. And it's just so slow and they always scroll in the wrong direction...Personally, given my personal config. - neither the flash nor the pdf is of any threat to me.I wish they start focusing on everything, without discrimination.Flash is just a security problem but it works very well, better than html5 but pdf's just plain such in their usage and you cannot avoid themGiven the sheer volume of beta-testers and the frequent of releases of updates - it is not incumbent on Mozilla to prioritize their focus on just pdf or flash.They are not limited by resources to focus on just any one or two things. They can easily manage to encompass flash, pdf and much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I wish they start focussing on the important stuff first: kill pdf! If adobe deserves to be hated it's for pdf not flash, god how I hate pdf's, especially forms, which you require to print, then fill in than scan, instead of just allowing them to be filled in and mailed. And it's just so slow and they always scroll in the wrong direction, copy/pasting from them is a nightmare, searching them is slow and awkward...No one forces you to read PDF with Adobe there's Fox-it and other PDF readers better than that bloatware . When you open PDF in a browser period chances for infection rise I just dont do it.Flash is just a security problem but it works very well, better than html5 but pdf's just plain such in their usage and you cannot avoid themIts not just a security problem its one the worse security problems out there . I keep it turned off when not using it And your forced to use this product for some sites by Adobe its a monopoly they should be more alternatives . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffi Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 No one forces you to read PDF with Adobe there's Fox-it and other PDF readers better than that bloatware . When you open PDF in a browser period chances for infection rise I just dont do it. But I am forced to read pdf's, I could avoid pdf manuals but the government uses them too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 No one forces you to read PDF with Adobe there's Fox-it and other PDF readers better than that bloatware . When you open PDF in a browser period chances for infection rise I just dont do it.But I am forced to read pdf's, I could avoid pdf manuals but the government uses them too...Just use Foxit Reader, , Sumatra PDF , Nitro PDF Reader , PDF-XChange Viewer there's no lack of choices out for PDF readers so I dont see this as a big problem . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffi Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Just use Foxit Reader, , Sumatra PDF , Nitro PDF Reader , PDF-XChange Viewer there's no lack of choices out for PDF readers so I dont see this as a big problem . It's not the reader it's the format I hate. Pdf is good for printing but nothing else, it sucks balls for forms and reading on a screens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Just use Foxit Reader, , Sumatra PDF , Nitro PDF Reader , PDF-XChange Viewer there's no lack of choices out for PDF readers so I dont see this as a big problem .It's not the reader it's the format I hate. Pdf is good for printing but nothing else, it sucks balls for forms and reading on a screensWell its a quite conman format i dont hate it . Were you would need pages and pages of documents or books it compress it into one file . If you hate something that not doing damage on wide scale that's personal . I hate a lot things people use that there's perfectly good freeware alternatives of . But just because its not free they think they should buy or steal it . There's some things that cant be replaced by free and that's a different story . :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CODYQX4 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I don't mind the format. I do despise the Adobe app though, and I prefer to not have the crap open in a separate app.It's become rare that I have to open document files off the web at home, as most cases I can view the PDF, and people are putting Word documents on Dropbox or some half-assed cloud stuff like Google Docs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zordon Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I struggle to see how Adobe Flash will die when Google Chrome has a built in player that continues to support it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs18 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I struggle to see how Adobe Flash will die when Google Chrome has a built in player that continues to support it.Firefox is not based around the Chrome browser - so, whether the player is built into Chrome or not . . . . . . . . . . fails to affect the Firefox intent to kill flash. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallon Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Just use Foxit Reader, , Sumatra PDF , Nitro PDF Reader , PDF-XChange Viewer there's no lack of choices out for PDF readers so I dont see this as a big problem .It's not the reader it's the format I hate. Pdf is good for printing but nothing else, it sucks balls for forms and reading on a screensYou can read 'double page maximized' on your monitor with Foxit. No problem. You can edit forms outside and with FoxitPhantom there are also direct edit options.If it's any consolation, DjVueLibre, the open source candidate to replace PDF (often used for chessbooks) has much fewer options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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