Why if Linux is “ready” and superior do users still have to hear, “blame the closed source people”? Open source is better right? Why can’t they be responsible?

Oh then we hear “well it is free”. That’s what the critics have said all along and Ubuntu has shown that a simple two-month flash plugin number mismatch has a crippled response, or no response at all. I would hate to see what happens when something hard to fix happens.

Flash is not the only issue just the most visible. I did another install just today to see if possibly it was fixed and it is not! I have had my frame-buffered consoles broken since Gutsy as well. That is not progress. These issues were fully functional in Feisty. What is with the three steps forward and two back and then the idiot repsonses as if anyone wondering why is wrong.

Did you even read what Alec wrote, or did you just ignore it and write an answer that made him seem like a moron and you like a hero?

Let me repeat what he said: It’s _not_ Ubuntus fault that Flash is currently broken. It’s Adobes fault for not playing ball with Linux-users. When you go off ranting about how Ubuntu needs to fix this bug, you’re really going off in a completely wrong way.

How do you come to the conclusion that it’s Ubuntus fault that Flash is currently broken? I really fail to see your chain of reasoning here. Did Ubuntu secretly acquire Flash from Adobe? No. Thus it’s not really their responsibility, even though they sure do try to make it as small a pain as possible.

In fact, I’m starting to think that Ubuntu is approaching this the wrong way. I’m starting to think that they shouldn’t sugarcoat the turd that is Flash, instead they should simply say that “Adobe refuses to cooperate with Linux-users, go bitch at them instead”. Really, that’s the only way to make Adobe take Linux seriously.

Same goes for everyone who wants Photoshop. Stop sitting there with your Windoze-box waiting for Adobe to open it’s eyes - take some fucking action and switch, then send emails to Adobe asking them to get their asses in gear and start porting stuff! Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only person in the world who sees the Catch-22 that is waiting for Adobe to port Photoshop, while Adobe won’t port Photoshop until there is a majority of users expecting it.

But, at least it’s a nice challenge to get things to work. I hate it when my computer’s too stable and boring.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/gutsy/+source/flashplugin-nonfree/+bug/173890

Will: Actually, I don’t think the fix has been pushed to the official repositories yet. I tried installing Flash again the proper Ubuntu way (with the Ubuntu Firefox extension or Add/Remove or Synaptic), and it still fails with the md5 checksum mismatch. The fix posted on that forum post is unofficial and has bugs.

Sulfura: I don’t think Ubuntu being a distribution (not OS; Ubuntu isn’t in charge of the Linux kernel) excuses them from not releasing quick bug fixes. While Ubuntu might be a more complicated product (which is arguable since Ubuntu is built on the work of many other people, but that’s beside the point), it should also have more developers if that’s what is needed to fix problems in a timely manner. Besides, the typical end-user, which is Ubuntu’s target user, wouldn’t give a second thought to whether it’s easy or hard to fix something. Waaaaa Flash is broken!!!111

Alec: I certainly sympathize, but Ubuntu is not Gentoo (insert your favorite geeky distribution), and I, a computer-savvy open-source fanboy, am not Ubuntu’s target user. Ubuntu’s aim is to directly compete with Windows and MacOSX as an end-user platform. The reality is that Flash is required for typical web usage, and Ubuntu is doing badly in the end-user OS race if they cannot make Flash install properly for over a month.

For the linux community, this has required all kinds of reverse engineering or the use of the highly unreliable closed source binaries Adobe throws out once in a while. Even though the issue you’re describing has been resolved, don’t blame the Ubuntu developer community, blame Adobe for continually refusing to hand out proper spec. requirements.