Testing Gnash 0.8.8 On Ubuntu

"Late last month, the GNU Gnash project released version 0.8.8 of its open-source flash player, which touts much better compatibility than its predecessors with popular Flash-centric sites, like YouTube. But how well does Gnash 0.8.8 actually work on Ubuntu? We botched up a virtual machine in order to find out.

"For ages, Flash has been the thorn in the side of free-software ideologues around the world. Even in 2010, when GPL-licensed software is available for dealing with almost all kinds of video and audio files, as well as Microsoft's proprietary document formats, there's no alternative to Adobe's proprietary flash plugin for users who want a stable and reliable flash experience. And that's a problem if you're trying to build a desktop operating system comprised entirely of Free software.

"That's why the Gnash project, whose goal is to build a fully open-source Flash player as an alternative to Adobe's software, is so important to the success of Ubuntu and desktop Linux in general."

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