What is Linux’s problem with Flash?

One of the biggest complaints about Linux is that full-screen Flash in a browser tends to have a jerky flickering effect that doesn’t look very good. For some who want to experience things like Hulu in full screen on their laptops or desktops, they don’t like the fact that Linux and Flash Player don’t work very well together.

There are actually a few reasons why this problem exists. The main reason is that the Flash plugin is closed software created by Adobe. What this means is that people who develop software for Linux have to guess what the Flash player wants, since they can’t see all the code. Usually with Linux software, the code is open source. This means that it’s easier to make sure all your code works together, since you can see the code. Unless Adobe chooses to share, this will always be a problem.

There are some alternatives that exist. The first is to use the open source version of Flash. The problem with this is that it is not that developed yet. One day it will be if it gets better, but it’s not ready yet.

Another option is to download the flv and swf files and play them full screen with your media player. This won’t work with streaming sites like Hulu, but it will work with other types of flash files. In this mode there are no full screen flickering issues.

The last option is to wait for the HTML5 standards that will phase out Flash. This may not happen for a few years, but it will eventually. Many are concerned that the browser relies too heavily on this plugin that its use will eventually be phased out over time. In browsers that support HTML5, you can run things like YouTube without using the Flash plugin at all.