[Trac #1103] web/flash unusable, even with old stuff

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#1103: web/flash unusable, even with old stuff
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 Reporter:  AlbertCahalan  |        Owner:  rsavoye
     Type:  defect         |       Status:  new    
 Priority:  blocker        |    Milestone:  Trial-1
Component:  web browser    |   Resolution:         
 Keywords:  flash          |  
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Comment (by AlbertCahalan):

 Replying to [comment:2 rsavoye]:
 > I don't think swfdec is an option at this time, it's primarily oriented
 towards YouTube video

 That could be OK if it'll actually work on a slow Geode CPU with almost no
 cache. Hack the browser to only attempt using it with YouTube video. Then
 swfdec is a YouTube video player and regular flash is just not supported.

 > The Adobe player, is of course, very far from "free software".

 Yes. Using the Adobe player would feel like an insult to some of us
 hackers writing apps for the XO. It's better to just accept that our flash
 solution is not ready yet, and might never work OK on such a weak CPU.
 I've been doing without flash for years because both free solutions seem
 to destabilize firefox; my bug #1105 suggests that this has not changed.
 Oh well. Wikipedia doesn't accept flash anyway.

 > Switching plugins is trivial, all you have to do is copy the proper .SO
 to the right directory. I can write a shell script, simple program, or
 whatever is decided to switch Flash plugins, but Gnash is the only Flash
 player with it's own funding an development team, and will be getting
 better with time.

 You could convert to C99. (with proper use of the "restrict" keyword) That
 tends to make things go faster, especially if Boost gets junked as a side
 effect.

 >   We use Gstreamer for sound in Gnash, but I also noticed using the
 Gnash package in the 303 build, sound doesn't seem to be working.

 Tux Paint uses SDL_mixer, which works if you install the RPM.

 > I play many more modern Flash movies, and haven't had any problems other
 than performance. Some movies just load very slowly, but I think unusable
 isn't accurate.

 While I was out, my wife tried some web pages with flash. Without any
 prompting from me, she expressed essentially the same thing. It's not
 usable on a B2 XO. Loading, if you mean downloading, is not the problem.
 Actually playing the files is the problem.

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Ticket URL: <http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/1103#comment:3>
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