As I'm sure most of you know, Adobe announced last Wednesday that they were
dumping their support for Flash on Linux. For people whose business is
selling Flex apps to Linux users, this is of course very bad news. What with
AIR for Linux having been abandoned too, Flex's only real hope of a
Linux-based future lies with targeting HTML+CSS+JS (HTML5), rather than the
Flash player. As the topic of targeting HTML5 has been raised numerous times
here, I figured it was time to start thinking in detail about how we might
do this.
In doing this though, I started to question whether there was any really
point to it. Assuming we all wait for the FalconJS compiler to be released
early next year, then start developing it into a full solution, plus modify
the framework to support this, then we are I think realistically at least
two years away from having a viable way of compiling Flex to HTML5. In other
words, in two years' time, we'll have a means of writing in one language
(AS3-ish) in order to create RIAs in HTML5. There are already the likes of
ExtJS etc, ie native JS RIA frameworks, available now. Would anyone really
gain anything from sticking with Flex for Linux and gambling on HTML5
support in two years (and probably more than two years,) rather than just
switching now?
The future of the Flash player for Windows and Mac seems as assured as
everything can be when dealing with proprietary systems. Likewise with Flex
on AIR for iOS and Android. So what benefit would there be in developing
HTML5 targets for these OS's? Surely this would just waste resources that
could otherwise be focused on improving Flex on the Flash player?
I wonder whether talk of new compilers and targeting HTML5, combined with a
desire to stick with what we know rather than venture into new territory,
has caused some of us to form some basically daft ideas on the future of
Flex? Would we not just be better off accepting Flex on Linux has reached
the end of the road and it's time for the Flex community to bid farewell to
it and us developers that relied on it and to instead focus on Flex on the
Flash player on more popular OS's?
David.
