Adobe Flash is Ending

[yo man im awesome]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ad...-idUSKBN1AA22R

Don't worry it's not too immediate, but from what the news is saying, Adobe Flash will no longer be updated/supported by then end of 2020.

Does this mean that FFR would essentially have to create new, non-Flash based Engine finally, if it intended to survive? Would the old engines still be accessible and usable after this point, and if so, would they still be updatable or left in stasis?

[Charu]

Just as long as browsers will continue to run flash content with user consent, we'll be fine I think.

[DaBackpack]

Originally Posted by Charu

Just as long as browsers will continue to run flash content with user consent, we'll be fine I think.

This is true, but I think the major browsers are beginning to phase out Flash support in favor of HTML5

Flash/Shockwave players will still support these kinds of files, but I don't think the plugins will be natively supported by Chrome or Firefox, for example

[SK8R43]

I dunno, cant play anymore. XD My new desktop wont play without lag.

[MinaciousGrace]

news -flash-, flash ended 10 years ago

[PrawnSkunk]

Although it's not too immediate, we now have a date to work towards if we want to, and have the developer power to, completely remove the Flash aspect from the game engine. Of course, R^3 and the legacy engines will always be accessible without opening a browser through the use of standalones.

I am looking into how standalones (aka debug player or content debuggers) will be distributed after Flash is no longer supported by Adobe. This is a problem because we cannot legally link to third-party downloads, or host downloads for flash player without a license to host them on our website. I have applied for this license, however I have not received a response from Adobe since July 24th, 2016. In light of this breaking news, I will be re-submitting my application.

Here is a summary of the Flash support roadmap by company I found on r/programming:

Originally Posted by Adobe

Adobe is planning to end-of-life Flash. Specifically, we will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020 and encourage content creators to migrate any existing Flash content to these new open formats.

Originally Posted by Google

Chrome will continue phasing out Flash over the next few years, first by asking for your permission to run Flash in more situations, and eventually disabling it by default. We will remove Flash completely from Chrome toward the end of 2020.

Originally Posted by Mozilla

Starting next month, users will choose which websites are able to run the Flash plugin. Flash will be disabled by default for most users in 2019, and only users running the Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) will be able to continue using Flash through the final end-of-life at the end of 2020. In order to preserve user security, once Flash is no longer supported by Adobe security patches, no version of Firefox will load the plugin.

Originally Posted by Microsoft

In mid to late 2018, we will update Microsoft Edge to require permission for Flash to be run each session. Internet Explorer will continue to allow Flash for all sites in 2018.

In mid to late 2019, we will disable Flash by default in both Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. Users will be able to re-enable Flash in both browsers. When re-enabled, Microsoft Edge will continue to require approval for Flash on a site-by-site basis.

By the end of 2020, we will remove the ability to run Adobe Flash in Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer across all supported versions of Microsoft Windows. Users will no longer have any ability to enable or run Flash.

[Charu]

That's pretty dumb to just outright make it so no one can even load flash stuff in browser anymore if that's true.

So much for preserving...

[Rapta]

considering it is bad for security, of course they are gonna stop

[MinaciousGrace]

security is overrated anyway, i vote we return to an era where life expectancy is 24 and i could consider my life thus far as wholly accomplished

[gold stinger]

I wonder how this will be handled regarding the large volume of animation projects, videos, and games across the internet that run in the swf format or a similar format requiring flash.

Can't even begin to think about how much this affects the internet until you take into consideration some of the biggest websites to take a hit from this such as Newgrounds, Kongregate, Armorgames, and the such.

Originally Posted by PrawnSkunk

I am looking into how standalones (aka debug player or content debuggers) will be distributed after Flash is no longer supported by Adobe. This is a problem because we cannot legally link to third-party downloads, or host downloads for flash player without a license to host them on our website. I have applied for this license, however I have not received a response from Adobe since July 24th, 2016. In light of this breaking news, I will be re-submitting my application.

I don't really see why they would take down download links for them. Projectors are more or less already not updated/maintained, and they play a huge role in accessing swf content. They might play an even bigger role given this deadline for flash.

[Soundwave-]

This can only be a good thing, in basically every aspect, for both FFR and in general.

Flash will not die. It will have a fixed runtime specification, which means dev tools and third-party projectors will update and remain up-to-date... Hopefully.

If not, 3rd party tools can already run, edit, and even link to executable formats sufficiently for FFR's purposes.

That being said, with 2 years warning, the port should just happen. It's long awaited, all executable web formats other than javascript are dying as they should, and in the scheme of FFR's lifetime, it wouldn't even be that big of an undertaking.

[Coolgamer]

This is a terrible thing. Firefox was already dead to me when they changed the permissive plugin model.

Taking away user choice and freedom is never a good idea, fine, don't bundle it but it should be the end user choice to install and run flash given the sheer amount of content.

I used to have a standalone of FFR, but I need it again if anyone has a copy. I tried the version on the stick but it doesn't get past loading data and modules. I KNOW I have an offline version when ffr was down.

Worst comes to worst, hopefully something can be released of the current build.

[Soundwave-]

I have builds but no point in passing it around like it isn't something that two seconds of googling and a bit of work can get you.

As for why browsers are dropping flash all together, that's likely related to the general mess that plugin APIs are right now. It's their fault, but also I don't blame them.

2 years is enough time for people to figure it out.