3 ms·

Adobe Flash is dead? I mean Adobe isn't selling it as product? If so, why they didn't open source the Flash player part? I wish there were a law to ensure that

by wg0 3y ago

Adobe Flash is dead? I mean Adobe isn't selling it as product? If so, why they didn't open source the Flash player part? I wish there were a law to ensure that if you're not selling a software anymore, you have to leave it in public domain.

grishka 3y ago
I asked the same question in one of the previous threads. Was told that most likely Flash player includes too much licensed third-party code that it would be too much work, if at all possible, to strip it out or relicense it for open-sourcing. At least all the relevant specifications are freely available from Adobe themselves. > I wish there were a law to ensure that if you're not selling a software anymore, you have to leave it in public domain. Shortening the copyright to something sensible like 5 years would've been nice too. Or better yet, require an exponentially increasing tax every year for copyright to be maintained.
- returnInfinity 3y ago
  Correct, its the third parties.
- littlestymaar 3y ago
  > Shortening the copyright to something sensible like 5 years would've been nice too. Even juste going down to 20 years like it used to be before IP portfolio owners lobbied to extend it would be a massive improvement already.
londons_explore 3y ago
Usually companies don't so this because of legal risks - ie. Some of the libraries they used perhaps they didn't license in a way that allowed opensourcing. A law change could fix this. Ie. A new antique software preservation law could enable any software be opensourced, yet prevent any lawsuits relating to any actions taken under that law. The law could give extra incentives too, for example requiring that any software ever sold commercially either be archived in perpetuity, or opensourced. Legally archiving something forever is expensive, so many will opt to opensource it.
kevincox 3y ago
The problem is that these products often used third-party proprietary components. So it often isn't possible to open-source it without pruning large parts of the codebase which is expensive and makes the released code much less useful.
est 3y ago
> If so, why they didn't open source the Flash player part? The code quality would be an embarrassment. So many exploits yet to be discovered.
stickupkid 3y ago
They have outsourced a large chunk of it[1], although you could argue not enough of it. 1. https://github.com/adobe/avmplus https://github.com/adobe/avmplus
maxerickson 3y ago
It's a zombie though. https://airsdk.harman.com/ https://airsdk.harman.com/

by wg0 3y ago

grishka 3y ago

I asked the same question in one of the previous threads. Was told that most likely Flash player includes too much licensed third-party code that it would be too much work, if at all possible, to strip it out or relicense it for open-sourcing. At least all the relevant specifications are freely available from Adobe themselves. > I wish there were a law to ensure that if you're not selling a software anymore, you have to leave it in public domain. Shortening the copyright to something sensible like 5 years would've been nice too. Or better yet, require an exponentially increasing tax every year for copyright to be maintained.

returnInfinity 3y ago
Correct, its the third parties.
littlestymaar 3y ago
> Shortening the copyright to something sensible like 5 years would've been nice too. Even juste going down to 20 years like it used to be before IP portfolio owners lobbied to extend it would be a massive improvement already.

londons_explore 3y ago

Usually companies don't so this because of legal risks - ie. Some of the libraries they used perhaps they didn't license in a way that allowed opensourcing. A law change could fix this. Ie. A new antique software preservation law could enable any software be opensourced, yet prevent any lawsuits relating to any actions taken under that law. The law could give extra incentives too, for example requiring that any software ever sold commercially either be archived in perpetuity, or opensourced. Legally archiving something forever is expensive, so many will opt to opensource it.

kevincox 3y ago

The problem is that these products often used third-party proprietary components. So it often isn't possible to open-source it without pruning large parts of the codebase which is expensive and makes the released code much less useful.

est 3y ago

> If so, why they didn't open source the Flash player part? The code quality would be an embarrassment. So many exploits yet to be discovered.

stickupkid 3y ago

They have outsourced a large chunk of it[1], although you could argue not enough of it. 1. https://github.com/adobe/avmplus https://github.com/adobe/avmplus

maxerickson 3y ago

It's a zombie though. https://airsdk.harman.com/ https://airsdk.harman.com/