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Flash is only cross-browser and cross-OS for {IE,Firefox,Chrome} on {Windows,MacOS}. It barely works on Linux, doesn't work at all on iOS or modern Android, and

Flash is only cross-browser and cross-OS for {IE,Firefox,Chrome} on {Windows,MacOS}. It barely works on Linux, doesn't work at all on iOS or modern Android, and is in general a huge barrier to adoption for free software. Not to mention its rich history of security vulnerabilities. The only reason Flash hasn't been completely abandoned yet is because it's currently the only widely-supported option for DRM. Anyone who has worked extensively with legacy software can tell you that the procedure for removing a deeply hated but heavily used piece of code is: 1. Wrap the entire mess in a giant API. 2. Reduce that giant API over time by rewriting bits of the mess in clean new code. 3. Eventually you will have a few remnants that can't be rewritten, safely contained behind a minimal API like rotten food in a garbage bag. 4. Wait until the market forces requiring (3) are obsolete, which may take years. 5. Throw away the bag. (1) is NPAPI and ActiveX. (2) is <audio>, <video>, <canvas>. (3) is EME, the trash bag that will let us isolate DRM from the rest of the browser. Don't fight against it on the basis of hating garbage. Everyone hates garbage, it's just that we're more interested in watching House Of Cards than in throwing it out right now.

gsnedders 13y ago
Flash at least is a known quantity — it is possible to license to port to one's own platform (assuming one can reach agreement with Adobe on licensing terms), as was done for the Nintendo Wii (the port being done by Opera Software). Will the EME plugins (and EME doesn't even have a defined API, unlike NPAPI and PPAPI — so will likely be browser-specific even when they are available) be able to be ported by third parties? An argument such as that can quite probably be made to build a business case against EME for a lot of device manufacturers shipping embedded browsers.

gsnedders 13y ago

Flash at least is a known quantity — it is possible to license to port to one's own platform (assuming one can reach agreement with Adobe on licensing terms), as was done for the Nintendo Wii (the port being done by Opera Software). Will the EME plugins (and EME doesn't even have a defined API, unlike NPAPI and PPAPI — so will likely be browser-specific even when they are available) be able to be ported by third parties? An argument such as that can quite probably be made to build a business case against EME for a lot of device manufacturers shipping embedded browsers.