64bit Flash player

[Richard Ryniker]

>[Adobe]
>I want to know why they should {want} to screw us out of the internet....

I doubt very much Adobe wants to limit our access to the Internet.  Adobe
wants to apply its development resources in the way that maximizes its
profit.

Adobe may feel 64-bit Flash for Linux would be profitable (in some
abstract, indirect sense: Adobe does not sell Flash Player for Linux as a
product.)  One problem is Adobe thinks other investments will produce
greater profit than development for Linux of its Creative Suite, Flash
Builder, and other products that generate its income.  Another problem is
Adobe may believe different opportunities are more attractive than any
additional income it could receive from more sales of current products on
supported platforms (Windows, MacOS) due to the availability of 64-bit
Flash for Linux.

We may be victims of Free and Open Source success here.  If there were a
simple, demonstrated model for a company to profit from application
development for the Linux platform, more companies would be likely to do
this.  Red Hat and IBM make a profit from Linux activity, but their
business models are greatly more complex than simple application sales.

Adobe's investment choices are subject to change due to competetive
experience and new opportunities.  There is even precedent (Postscript,
PDF) for Adobe to publish its designs for wide use.  Maybe HTML5 will
induce such publication for Flash, or even displace Flash from the Web
environment.

It is also possible Adobe is busily at work on 64-bit Flash for Linux for
the best of reasons - it's customers want this because they feel they
cannot reach an increasingly important part of the Web user community
without this capability - but chooses not to publish its plans or
schedules.  Withdrawal of the alpha code may not indicate lack of
interest, simply recognition of significant defects that Adobe has not
yet fixed.