You don't use open source software because it's better (it usually isn't).
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As someone who was a true devotee of FutureWave SmartSketch (which became FutureSplash Animator, which became Macromedia Shockwave Flash, which became Adobe Flash, which became Adobe Animator) my sorrow is incalculable. Every day I long for software I had in the 90s which I can't find anything as good as today.
@mcc I developed a web site very early in my career using Future Splash Animator. In some ways the technology was way ahead of its time.
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@mcc Open-source software can cease to exist anytime too - due maintainers burnout under burden of unpaid work, for example. Or by sme other reasons. More chances if project managed by some group of people/organization as foundation with proper measures for longevity.
@koteisaev @mcc the single fact that the source code is available means that if the project was abandoned someone, someday, can pick up where it had stopped.
I agree this is not the case all the time, but the probability for this to happen is a lot higher than a closed source project to be handed to another company / team.
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@tsukaj @mcc @crankylinuxuser yeah, agreeing with post. Miss 90s software and Flash. Amen in this way might be a localism.
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@tsukaj @mcc @crankylinuxuser yeah, agreeing with post. Miss 90s software and Flash. Amen in this way might be a localism.
@tsukaj @crankylinuxuser @dbat I am from the United States South and immediately understood what you meant
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You don't use open source software because it's better (it usually isn't).
You don't use open source software because it's freer (it only sometimes is).
You don't use open source software because it's got better politics (it isn't always).
You use open source software because *it is the only option*. In the long run, if it isn't open source, it doesn't exist.
image source: keithstack.com
Yeah, well. I use open source software because most that I use are better.
So, in my case, they usually are.
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@indigoparadox @Lenni @RogerBW @mcc Thanks. I think the last time I wrote any code in C was some 15 years ago; the entire number of C lines I have written in my life is probably less than 3000, and I have forgotten most of what little I used to know about GCC, and that was ages ago.
I'm much more familiar with Pascal and Python, I suck at Java, and I could probably still do a lot of silly things in GW-BASIC because that's what came with my first MS-DOS PC. I had to learn some Haskell at uni, but I never used it again and forgot almost everything. I also had to learn C++ and forgot most about it, although its similarity to Java means that I probably remember more than I think, but I stink when it comes to C++.
I mostly write single purpose command line tools in Pascal or Python for my own purposes, and most of those get called by bash scripts.@LordCaramac @indigoparadox @Lenni @RogerBW @mcc well, does it work? Don't leave us hanging
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You don't use open source software because it's better (it usually isn't).
You don't use open source software because it's freer (it only sometimes is).
You don't use open source software because it's got better politics (it isn't always).
You use open source software because *it is the only option*. In the long run, if it isn't open source, it doesn't exist.
image source: keithstack.com
@mcc Wrong. 100% wrong. I use FOSS because it is better for almost everything in almost every way.
For proprietary software, the only things I ever want to use, are a little Google Drive (mostly for friends) and Acrobat. Really. That's all. And those both suck because of the embedded slop, the slop that I can't remove that would never exist in FOSS because someone would just take it out or fork.
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@LordCaramac @Lenni @RogerBW @mcc this looks a lot like csound.
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You don't use open source software because it's better (it usually isn't).
You don't use open source software because it's freer (it only sometimes is).
You don't use open source software because it's got better politics (it isn't always).
You use open source software because *it is the only option*. In the long run, if it isn't open source, it doesn't exist.
image source: keithstack.com
But Open Source isn't so much the point about this message by Adobe.
The point is not to use a Cloud service you do not have control over and not to use software via subscription.
Because you could always use old hardware, an old OS, not being connected to the Internet for safety reasons, to run old software you need. Or you could do it in something like VirtualBox.
Open source, is it easier with that respect? It depends… there is also old open source software that will not run on your current system, because dependencies have changed / cannot be provided any more, and lots of other stuff. And if you do not know how to compile from source, resolving dependencies manually, it's of no use for you.
Anyways… this Adobe message basically means: Better think twice before you marry. People somehow forget common wisdom when it comes to computers.
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@mcc@mastodon.social What Adobe is doing to Animate is like if Microsoft suddenly shot Windows in the nuts and then said it would be dead in five minutes.
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You don't use open source software because it's better (it usually isn't).
You don't use open source software because it's freer (it only sometimes is).
You don't use open source software because it's got better politics (it isn't always).
You use open source software because *it is the only option*. In the long run, if it isn't open source, it doesn't exist.
image source: keithstack.com
@mcc I actually use Free Software because it's better.
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You don't use open source software because it's better (it usually isn't).
You don't use open source software because it's freer (it only sometimes is).
You don't use open source software because it's got better politics (it isn't always).
You use open source software because *it is the only option*. In the long run, if it isn't open source, it doesn't exist.
image source: keithstack.com
@mcc FLOSS is the safest bet in the long run.
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As someone who was a true devotee of FutureWave SmartSketch (which became FutureSplash Animator, which became Macromedia Shockwave Flash, which became Adobe Flash, which became Adobe Animator) my sorrow is incalculable. Every day I long for software I had in the 90s which I can't find anything as good as today.
@mcc yeah this, there isn't really anything that matches its functionality;
like fuck can you name any vectored video formats that can also have interactivity and a whole goddamn scripting language;
fuck forget that; can you name any software that would create and manipulate such a format?
it .. doesn't exist.
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@mcc yeah this, there isn't really anything that matches its functionality;
like fuck can you name any vectored video formats that can also have interactivity and a whole goddamn scripting language;
fuck forget that; can you name any software that would create and manipulate such a format?
it .. doesn't exist.
@Li Based on long familiarity with Flash and having spent over a decade thinking about this exact problem, I believe that I could represent all features of Flash within either the SVG file format or a modest extension or SVG.
However, making the tooling to edit such a file format? Making that tooling to the quality level required by art professionals?
I'm gonna need many millions of dollars, a *good* recruiter, and at least two years. For the MVP.
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@Li Based on long familiarity with Flash and having spent over a decade thinking about this exact problem, I believe that I could represent all features of Flash within either the SVG file format or a modest extension or SVG.
However, making the tooling to edit such a file format? Making that tooling to the quality level required by art professionals?
I'm gonna need many millions of dollars, a *good* recruiter, and at least two years. For the MVP.
@Li also, if you build this on top of webtech as I propose in the previous post, it might turn out the timing is shit.
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@GamingWolf @BoredomFestival yes! Well I meant to point you towards it (in case you weren’t aware already) since you seemed nostalgic for it. Anyway, over 200k games lol
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But Open Source isn't so much the point about this message by Adobe.
The point is not to use a Cloud service you do not have control over and not to use software via subscription.
Because you could always use old hardware, an old OS, not being connected to the Internet for safety reasons, to run old software you need. Or you could do it in something like VirtualBox.
Open source, is it easier with that respect? It depends… there is also old open source software that will not run on your current system, because dependencies have changed / cannot be provided any more, and lots of other stuff. And if you do not know how to compile from source, resolving dependencies manually, it's of no use for you.
Anyways… this Adobe message basically means: Better think twice before you marry. People somehow forget common wisdom when it comes to computers.
@nielso @mcc #OpenSource may not solve all problems around software obsolescence, but it gives you some leverage regarding it. As long as there's a big enough community around it, the software won't die. It uses open standard format, that will be opened on similar solutions. Also, nowadays, almost all proprietary software is subscription\cloud based, while Open Source solutions are mostly the opposite. See #microsoft office. Soon you won't be able to buy a license, you will rent a office 365.
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@technicaladept @mcc I actually bought some software years and years ago that was perfect for doing some SQL Synchronization. They wanted me to update and said my version was expired. (cost over 2k!)
So, I set up a Windows 7 VM and set the date to 2007. Still works fine.
however, that may be a "if the date is past x then go check the license" rather than "try the license server"
@coldfish @mcc Sounds like inbuilt obsolesce. Can you remember when we used to pay to replace our software because the latest version was actually better. Still happens with games I think and of course with security being a shit show we're extorted into paying for security updates. (Unlike with any other unsafe product where the manufacturer's on the hook for a recall) But outside of those two, when was the last time you upgraded software because they'd added some functionality that you wanted?
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You don't use open source software because it's better (it usually isn't).
You don't use open source software because it's freer (it only sometimes is).
You don't use open source software because it's got better politics (it isn't always).
You use open source software because *it is the only option*. In the long run, if it isn't open source, it doesn't exist.
image source: keithstack.com
@mcc "export your files to other formats, such as SWF"
ARE THEY SERIOUSLY SUGGESTING SHOCKWAVE FLASH IN 2026 ? -
@nielso @mcc #OpenSource may not solve all problems around software obsolescence, but it gives you some leverage regarding it. As long as there's a big enough community around it, the software won't die. It uses open standard format, that will be opened on similar solutions. Also, nowadays, almost all proprietary software is subscription\cloud based, while Open Source solutions are mostly the opposite. See #microsoft office. Soon you won't be able to buy a license, you will rent a office 365.
Agreed. I think more/most commercial software will use the subscription model.
My idea about the reason for this is: a) it's greed of the manufactorers, but also b) we have reached a saturation in benefits from (buying) newer versions of software.
Nobody really needs Windows 11 and the latest MS Office version for doing regular office work. There's just not that one shiny new set of features that makes you switch to Windows 11. So MS must force people to use it.
Same holds for Adobe Suite and creative work, with only a few exceptions (like supporting new camera RAW formats and stuff).
So, manufacturers want to force users into the subscription plan.
Open Source doesn't need to do so.
