On 12/22/2014 11:53 AM, ToddAndMargo wrote:
> On 12/22/2014 10:35 AM, Chris Schanzle wrote:
>> On 12/22/2014 12:51 PM, Yasha Karant wrote:
>>> We have end users that we support on machines currently running IA-32
>>> SL6x who need Adobe Flash capability in a Mozilla Firefox browser.
>>>
>>> From Adobe (presumably under the influence/control of the Microsoft
>>> monopoly):
>>>
>>> *NOTE*: Adobe Flash Player 11.2 will be the last version to target
>>> Linux as a supported platform. Adobe will continue to provide security
>>> backports to Flash Player 11.2 for Linux.
>>>
>>> Is there a replacement for the Adobe Flash Player?  Is there a
>>> version/replacement that properly works with x86-64 SL7 using a 64 bit
>>> Firefox?
>>>
>>> Yasha Karant
>>
>> What's the problem here?  Flash is available for 32 and 64-bit browsers,
>> use their yum repo.  Just because the version is older than others,
>> doesn't mean it is insecure or won't do the job.
>>
>
>
> Hi Chris,
>
>     Firefox flags the out-of-date Flash plugin as a security hazard.
>
> -T
>
>
> Hi Yasha,
>
>     I do not know if this will help at all, but I install
> the "You Tube All HTLM5" extension on all my customer's machines to
> get them off of Flash as much as possible:
>
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-all-html5
>
>    It is also faster at rendering than Flash is.  Well at least
> it corrects a lot of lag problems on You Tube (problem
> may be You Tube, not Flash).
>
>    Also, because iOS (iPhone, iPad, etc.) does not support Flash,
> it seriously behooves your clients to switch to HTML5 (I do recommend
> this to my clients).
>
> -T
Todd,

These are not my clients (customers) in the for-profit business sense of 
the word.  These typically are colleagues who need Linux
support that the regular IT channels at my university will not provide:  
the IT unit only supports "current" MS Windows with their configuration
or, in so far as Apple supports it, Mac OS X.   Some of these 
colleagues, such as the one who raised this issue, is a retired faculty 
member who still serves as an editor on a major international social 
science journal.  I got sick and tired of trying to make MS Windows work 
on her machine, and got her to switch to EL .  Support problems vanished 
under EL -- and with Crossover to support the particular (obsolete) 
versions of the MS Office suite that she must use (I have attempted to 
get her to switch to Open/LibreOffice, but to no avail -- she also does 
not like the current MS Office suite user interface and typically will 
not use it although it is installed under MS Win under VirtualBox).  
However, the journal and some of her colleagues present material that 
requires Flash, and Flash is an "accepted" standard by her journal. 
Thus, I must support Flash format material.

Is there a mechanism to force Linux Firefox *NOT* to use the Firefox 
"old and insecure" database that Firefox uses for MS Win?  Although her 
current machine is X86-64, as with my own laptop, it is 
under-provisioned for a 64 bit environment.   It will run, but not well 
and may be unstable.  Understand that the above mentioned colleague will 
have ten or more GUI intensive applications open at the same time -- not 
just a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a web browser.  Hence I have 
left her at IA-32 SL6x.

Since my most recent posting on this matter, I have found:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8409438_use-instead-flash-player-firefox.html

How to Use VLC Instead of Flash Player in Firefox

VLC is an open-source cross-platform media player. It allows you to play 
standard video and audio formats from files on your computer, and also 
use the Firefox add-on to watch videos online through the browser. VLC's 
Firefox add-on uses fewer resources on the computer than Flash player 
does, so you can accomplish more while the video is running without 
programs having to stop or wait.


End quote.

Is anyone using Firefox on EL doing the above?  If so, how and does it 
provide the needed functionality?  Is the necessary software available 
from USA repositories or do intellectual property restrictions only 
allow it to be distributed, say, in the EU?

Thanks,

Yasha