Flash support for Linux has not always been great. An earlier version was so behind they SKIPPED it. But the RECENT versions are coming out for Linux very quickly; they made a decision to make Linux more supported. (And that's why they skipped a version; the new one was now on a respectable timeline.)

So, yes, it has good Linux support. Also, keep in mind that Adobe acquired Flash (as part of Macromedia) right in that time period; Adobe's track record with Flash on Linux is strong.

To clarify Flex a bit:

- Compiled Flex applications run in Flash Player; it's not an additional plugin.

- Flex applications use ActionScript 3, which is the same programming language that the newest versions of Flash use. It's structurally Java-like, but it's very easy to get powerful things done - for instance dynamically loading and playing a remote video stream can be accomplished in a few lines.

- Flex doesn't require the 'timeline' paradigm with binary source files that Flash had, replacing it with a solid and powerful layout language, making Flex a tool for app programmers rather than for animators. But there's huge crossover - and some workflows involve both tools because it trivially can include assets and videos from Flash.

- Flex Builder isn't free (unless you're a student) But the compiler IS free. So "Builder" is really like buying "Dreamweaver for Flex" more than like buying Flex. (Flex Builder is actually based on Eclipse, not on Dreamweaver, though)

And the license for OS X!

If you're buying a Mac to put Linux on it, you're probably wasting money. (Unless you're buying a zillion of them and getting a discount) OS X is like that Lenovo one, maybe... except for me the OS X vs Windows difference just dwarfs anything else.

Maybe IBM did it first, I have no idea - but I know the Macbook Pros, at least, have been doing this for a while now, too.

IANAL, but it seems to me that someone who purchased a Kindle2 prior to this announcement with the expectation that it would TTS everything would be able to sue. Or at least publicly demand a refund for their Kindle2, all titles purchased, and any shipping they paid for. (A refund I imagine Amazon would not normally allow).

I agree that the right way to fight this is not to buy DRM products, and I know several people not buying a Kindle just for it's DRM issues.

Your problem isn't with 'webapps' - which can do EXACTLY what you've just described, and we do it all the time in Flex and Flash. Your problem is with 'terrible webapps'

Oh, and as long as you bother to twiddle with the paths so it knows where to look, those apps DO run locally if you want them to - OR on the web. But voila, no platform issues, and the local disk access is optional.

Any "IE-only" web app is not a good web app, in my opinion.

Here in the US, we have government issued IDs. And they're required for plenty of things, especially in person. We don't have the Post Office as part of the system you're referring to, but that's not the biggest problem.

The problem is that there's no possible way to even reasonably verify whether a moron is who they think they are online without having already laid some groundwork. (Like mailing something to prove address) Anything they can know, someone else can know. And as a parent mentioned, the skip-tracing people have AT LEAST as much information as a major credit card you just applied for - available for a couple $.

And the credit reporting agencies and credit companies here want you to be able to get drunk and call up and apply for a credit card and get instant gratification for it with no verification whatsoever...

They ought to have to at least mail you something at the address on your credit report and call you at the phone number on your credit report. If the credit reporting agency wants to do that and setup a secret PIN with you, you could share that secret with a credit card company...

They DO mail your PINs out, so you can't take too much direct cash from a fraudulent app - you can only buy an infinite quantity of goods. So that proves they know how to keep it safe - they just don't value ensuring that you're the right person to give credit to... because the incentives aren't in place.

Flash has issues, but there's no superior product it beat out. Java is CONCEPTUALLY superior, but it didn't pan out - partially Sun's and partially MSFT's fault. ActiveX is more powerful, but is even conceptually a total lack of security and has no crossplatform support.

Since I haven't used it, hypothetically Silverlight could possibly be better, but I personally, based on their long track record, just don't trust MSFT to be even reasonably secure or to play nicely with others.

Flash video does tend to take 100% of your CPU... no matter how fast your CPU is. But youtube plays on pretty modest CPUs, so it doesn't require an especially fast CPU... it just uses what CPU it can find to make your experience better. And it's better in each version of FP. I agree, that's an issue if you're playing video on the web in the background. For some reason. Although, there are plenty of players for FLV and MP4 that aren't Flash Player... like Quicktime.

As for overlays, there's no reason to do that. That is, while you might not believe it, Flash Player isn't a video plugin like Quicktime - it's a full fledged OO programming environment. So you can put whatever you want over your video whenever you want, with a little programming. If you want to create a standardized overlay spec in XML so it's shared by a lot of players, you could do that. So the only thing you're missing is the ability to create overlays IN your video editing software, instead of in Flash... which would have to be a much more limited functionality than the complete programming language that ActionScript is.

I'll take being able to program truly interactive video over supporting overlays, any day.

I think the previous poster is on target - it takes a long time to build a clientele where they keep coming back, so you're consistently busy instead of just occasionally busy.

But if you're good (or anyone else reading) we might be interested; we definitely mange independent part time remote developers, and I think we're going to be a bit shy in Java.

Let's say dev-slashjava@xig.net for this. Send what you can in terms of resume portfolio.

arete