Great News ! Can't be anymuch happier :D
I have always wished to see Adobe running totally on a Linux Box, and now it seems good that Adobe is slowly doin it all good. Being a hardcore Adobe fan(& a developer) and a linux enthusiast, i will be more than happy to someday totally switch to Linux and run Adobe Suite on top of it. The bottom line is that this is definitely a good change and i'm really looking forward for more significant steps. Cheers ! On 5/5/08, प्रबीण ( ओपन ठिटो ) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Adobe Drops Licensing Fees, Gives Away Flash For DevicesBy Michael Calore > > Software maker Adobe announced Thursday that it would drop many of the > licensing requirements attached to its Flash technology, which is used to > display video and audio content on the web. The new initiative, named the Open > Screen Project <http://www.adobe.com/go/openscreenproject>, has five key > components: > > 1. Adobe will remove license restrictions on SWF and FLV file formats. > Outsiders can now build their own Flash player clones. > > 2. Adobe will also remove the licensing fees on its Flash player. > Developers can now integrate Adobe's player into any device or application > without paying a fee. > > 3. Porting layer APIs will be opened up. They've always been > device-specific, so manufacturers have had to sign agreements with Adobe in > order to include the Flash player on a particular device. By eliminating > that requirement, Adobe is allowing anyone to put the Flash player on their > device without even opening a dialog with the company. > > 4. Adobe will publish the protocols for Flash, so companies can build the > content delivery systems for themselves. They no longer need to use Adobe's > Flash server software. > > 5. Adobe will allow over-the-air updates of the Flash player. Providers > and carriers can push out new player versions to their users. > > In a sense, this is what Adobe did with PostScript and the Portable > Document Format (PDF) -- give away the file formats and allow others to > implement them free of licensing fees, but continue to charge for the > development tools. Thursday's announcement is also in line with Adobe's > recent moves towards open-source > technologies<http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/02/adobes-kevin-ly.html>. > In February, the company released its Flex developer's kit under an > open-source license, and in 2006, it donated the code for Flash's > Tamarin<http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2006/11/adobe_releases_.html>virtual > machine to the open-source Mozilla project. > > In a telephone interview, Adobe vice president of platforms David Wadhwani > told Wired.com that his company is opening up the Flash ecosystem in order > to win a wider install base for the presentation technology on devices. > Adobe is also hoping its initiative will help speed adoption of the Adobe > Integrated Runtime, or AIR, the company's Flash-based technology which lets > developers run their web applications natively on desktop computers and, as > it evolves, mobile phones. > > "We feel that Flash and AIR are the right metaphors for having unified > runtimes across all devices," he says. > > The Flash player, which is installed on about 95% of the world's > computers, is available as a free download, so content providers almost > always default to the Flash format for presenting video and other rich media > to desktop users. On mobile devices, it's a different story. > > The mobile version of the Flash player currently ships on about 500 > million handheld devices, but there are over 3 billion mobile phones in the > world. Granted, not all of those devices are capable of displaying video, > but Flash penetration is still far less on mobile devices than it is on > desktops. > > According to Wadhwani, Adobe's goal is to see Flash installed on one > billion phones by the end of 2008 2009, a number which he estimates will > represent about 40% of video-capable mobile devices. > > Several big-name content providers, including MTV, NBC and the BBC, are > backing Adobe's plan to open up -- Flash on more devices means more people > watching their TV shows, an obvious win. > > When asked about whether this initiative will speed up the development of > a Flash-capable browser on the iPhone, Wadhwani reiterated what Adobe has > previously > stated<http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/03/adobe-flash-is.html>-- that the > company would love to see the Flash experience on the iPhone, > but that it would require making some concessions about the way content is > presented to stay within the restrictions of Apple's software developer's > kit for the device. However, Wadhwani speculated that the Open Screen > Project will give a boost to eager developers who want to build their own > Flash player for the iPhone. > > *Update (May 1, 10:45AM PDT)*: Rather than leave the issue open to > speculation, I asked Wadhwani to clarify Adobe's position on Flash for the > iPhone. Here's what he says: > > "The iPhone is a type of high-end device, a smartphone, which would > benefit from a consistent runtime environment that delivers a complete rich > browsing experience. And we are now focusing on optimizing Flash Player for > the smartphone segment of the market, which includes working to bring Flash > to the iPhone." > > Another potential beneficiary of the Open Screen Project is Linux. A great > number of mobile devices are running Linux, and developers working on mobile > video applications for the free operating system can now build for whatever > device they'd like without the need to pursue licensing agreements or worry > about device-specific players. > > Also see: http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/ > > -- > Prabin Gautam "ओपन ठिटो" > Registered Linux User #443940 > letS makE ouR streeT FOSSible.......... > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ FOSS Nepal mailing list: [email protected] http://groups.google.com/group/foss-nepal To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Community website: http://www.fossnepal.org/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
