Adobe has killed Flash

[Phynaz]

EOL in 2020:

https://www.cnet.com/news/adobe-kills-flash-web-browser-tech-2020/

 

[PeterRoss]

Still a couple of years away. But we are finally making the steps in the right direction. WebGL and HTML5 are definitely at the level of flash if not actually higher. Will be interesting to see how EVERYONE adapts to this.

 

[MushyNAT]

Still a couple of years away. But we are finally making the steps in the right direction. WebGL and HTML5 are definitely at the level of flash if not actually higher. Will be interesting to see how EVERYONE adapts to this.

In all honesty, they likely won't anytime soon. Just look at how many legacy apps still *only* run on some ancient version of Java, and if you update it completely breaks. The business world is plagued with this lowest bidder junkware and nobody wants to spend the money to update it. All these banking/insurance/etc sites that *require* flash will simply still require flash, and if you don't install that unsupported version of flash full of security holes from four years ago, well... guess you can't do business.

 

[HutchinsonJC]

All these banking/insurance/etc sites that *require* flash

I feel like I've seen quite a bit of advancement from banks. Almost like a fire was lit... either from regulatory bodies or from competition. The mindset for banks isn't a lot different than the mindset for retail in some respects: Leave a good impression, and don't let the competitor totally show you up, because people will talk about your offerings and go to something better.

Interest changes quickly just when one person shows another what their bank app can do on their phone. There's a lot of peer 2 peer pay, gift pay, and all sorts of options that've been coming out from various banks of late. I find it hard to believe that flash will stick around in that environment with a declared EoL.

 

[jpiniero]

Hmm, since maybe this news dropped I haven't been able to use Flash at all at Youtube.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Good stuff. Now let's hope it does not just get replaced by something that is just as vile. I would like to see html5 video get better though, I looked into it and it's a real mess. You basically need like 20 different versions of the same video file to be available on the server for it to work since each browser/OS uses a different codec.

 

[Elixer]

By 2020?
That isn't soon enough.

Flash is a huge attack vector, and giving it ~2.5 more years of exploits is idiotic.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Seems fair as it will give web developers a chance to move off it and browser makers to remove support. But yeah, I would not complain if they decided to just outright drop it.

While we're at it, Javascript is another big attack vector. I really think the W3C or whoever governs that should look at reducing it's capabilities. JS was originally to make web pages interactive, but it's more than just that now, it basically has full access to the machine, your browser history etc. That's how FB/Google etc spy on you.

 

[EXCellR8]

The internet is a big attack vector.

 

[shortylickens]

Which is funny cuz the cold hard mistress Reality actually killed Flash several years ago.
This is more like refusing to acknowledge a death until long after it has occurred.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Which is funny cuz the cold hard mistress Reality actually killed Flash several years ago.
This is more like refusing to acknowledge a death until long after it has occurred.

Microsoft must be into necromancy then, because they "integrated" Flash Player into Skype, on the Windows platform. Yay, network viruses while you sleep!

 

[bigboxes]

By 2020?
That isn't soon enough.

Flash is a huge attack vector, and giving it ~2.5 more years of exploits is idiotic.

They'll just find another exploit. You really think that malware is ending in 2.5 years?

 

[Bardock]

I haven't used it for a while, it was always buggy and crashed and no websites I frequent require it thankfully. Good riddance, although I did enjoy playing flash games but I'm sure there are alternatives.

 

[PeterRoss]

While it was buggy and crashed, this is where a lot of industry people emerged from. Using the tools that were presented, it is a legacy. Great, that we are improving and moving forward from security filled software, but at the time of its prime, it was the best tool. The good news is, that there is a petition to make Flash open source or at least some modules of it. Would be great if it went through and the community has some tools to work with, to make either a browser compatible with it or a near perfect converted from Flash to WebAssembly/HTML5, will see in the future.

 

[Dahak]

Hmm, since maybe this news dropped I haven't been able to use Flash at all at Youtube.

Could be possible, but I know that they have been rolling out the html5 player more and more. I had noticed it more the past week or two as well

 

[PeterRoss]

The html5 player has been in the works for years now, I noticed that especially as a heavy Streaming and youtube site user. On some, I was even offered to beta test the HTML5 for convenience. I like it, a lot. But with the announcement, a lot more websites and brands are gonna be moving exclusively to HTML5 players.

 

[bigboxes]

Could be possible, but I know that they have been rolling out the html5 player more and more. I had noticed it more the past week or two as well

Yeah, I've been blocking HTML5 autoplay for over a year now. As I blocked flash from auto playing, these sites just started using HTML5 to make sure they had control over my system. Flash has been a security risk for many years. I'm just thinking the bad guys will find something else to exploit.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Ironically on Facebook recently it has been asking for flash plugin on some videos and before this month that never happened. I thought that everything on there already transitioned to html5?!

 

[TeknoBug]

My wife plays Facebook games which mostly relies on Flash, wonder if they'll update if Flash disappears for good.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The internet is a big attack vector.

It would not be as bad if browsers were not designed to execute any code that's thrown at it. Get rid of flash, and all other plugins, and I'd even go as far as saying get rid of javascript, except for stuff that only affects the specific tab. Ex: it should not be allowed to access the system or other tabs. Or cookies from other domains. That's another thing, cookies should be restricted so they can't be accessed by another domain. This would stop all the FB/Google etc tracking stuff.

 

[bigboxes]

It would not be as bad if browsers were not designed to execute any code that's thrown at it. Get rid of flash, and all other plugins, and I'd even go as far as saying get rid of javascript, except for stuff that only affects the specific tab. Ex: it should not be allowed to access the system or other tabs. Or cookies from other domains. That's another thing, cookies should be restricted so they can't be accessed by another domain. This would stop all the FB/Google etc tracking stuff.

I use a VPN. Sometimes I do a double hop. They think I'm from Richmond Hill. Cuts down on the tracking. A lot.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I use a VPN. Sometimes I do a double hop. They think I'm from Richmond Hill. Cuts down on the tracking. A lot.

Yeah but that should not be needed. If browsers were designed with privacy/security from the get go it would be much harder for these trackers to track you. They could still track you by IP though but the way tracking is now it uses more than just IP, it uses voice (your mic) and even spies on what you do on other sites etc. Ex: FB knows that you went to a certain site that has nothing to do with FB because they read your cookies and use other techniques that they don't share.

I have also seen situations where something from an IRL conversation at work ends up triggering ads when I'm on a completely different device on a completely different network. Shit is freaky.

There's lot of steps you can take to try to cut down on the tracking, but to me that should not be required. The browser should stop leaking all that info in first place.

 

[bigboxes]

Yeah but that should not be needed. If browsers were designed with privacy/security from the get go it would be much harder for these trackers to track you. They could still track you by IP though but the way tracking is now it uses more than just IP, it uses voice (your mic) and even spies on what you do on other sites etc. Ex: FB knows that you went to a certain site that has nothing to do with FB because they read your cookies and use other techniques that they don't share.

I have also seen situations where something from an IRL conversation at work ends up triggering ads when I'm on a completely different device on a completely different network. Shit is freaky.

There's lot of steps you can take to try to cut down on the tracking, but to me that should not be required. The browser should stop leaking all that info in first place.

But then the money tree dries up. That there tracking is black gold!

 

[Red Squirrel]

But then the money tree dries up. That there tracking is black gold!

That's the thing, there's no reason why they can't still advertise while not tracking our every move. Newspaper ads are static and still very profitable today. Just do the same, but with the internet.

 

[bigboxes]

That's the thing, there's no reason why they can't still advertise while not tracking our every move. Newspaper ads are static and still very profitable today. Just do the same, but with the internet.

Newspapers are dying. Don't kid yourself. The money is in tracking. That's why I'm probably going to root my phone I got this week. Android: The Return of the Tracking King.