A world without Flash

[newtusmaximus]

"[size=1.35em]Google Chrome to block Flash by default, potentially dealing final blow to hated software"
http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/15/116793...later-2016

Questions:
a) Does this mean pepperflash-non free is also on the way out.
b) What happens in the switch over period where "millions"? of sites become un-usable.
c) The repository hosts adobe-flash plugin- is this now safe? should it be used as all?
d) What are the ramifications for LL?

as an aside - should the same be considered for Java plugins - unsafe ?



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[Mike]

Per the originating message, Chromium will still offer flash but only if HTML5 is not available or the user explicitly enables it on a per site basis.

Later this year we plan to change how Chromium hints to websites about the presence of Flash Player, by changing the default response of Navigator.plugins and Navigator.mimeTypes.  If a site offers an HTML5 experience, this change will make that the primary experience.  We will continue to ship Flash Player with Chrome, and if a site truly requires Flash, a prompt will appear at the top of the page when the user first visits that site, giving them the option of allowing it to run for that site (see the proposal for the mock-ups).

[nomko]

a) Does this mean pepperflash-non free is also on the way out.

Don't think so. Pepperflash is a NPAPI maintained by Google and newer than Adobe Flash Player. While Adobe dropped support for their Flash, Google keeps maintaining it for the Chromium project of which Google Chrome is forked from.

b) What happens in the switch over period where "millions"? of sites become un-usable.

Sites that still uses Flash will not be blocked, as said by Mike, you will get a prompt asking what to do. This action of Google will eventually "force" those "flash-sites" to ditch Flash in favour of HTML5. But this will take some time also to rebuild those websites.

c) The repository hosts adobe-flash plugin- is this now safe? should it be used as all?

Adobe Flash was, is and will never be safe. That's why it will be blocked completely by time. Adobe does not support their Flash version for Linux but it will keep receiving security updates. But this will stop also by time (i thought is was till 2017??).

d) What are the ramifications for LL?

All distro's will follow the path chosen by Google and also by Adobe. There's no reason to stand up and fight against these decisions. And for what reason? If you need Flash, use Chromium with pepperflash plugin for the time being.