Smokescreen Turns Flash into JavaScript
Conversion tool plans to go open source sometime soon.
As the war between Flash and HTML5 wages on, developers are finding all kinds of workarounds to get Flash-based advertising content onto the slew of mobile devices that can't or in some cases won't support Adobe's format. Chris Smoak's Smokescreen skips the Flash plugin and instead uses JavaScript and HTML5 to decode the media.
This is great news for banner ads, but for those of us looking forward to watching Hulu at the gym, Smokescreen is more than lacking, as video is hardly watchable on most mobile devices. What's more, in its current state, Smokescreen is 175KB and about 8,000 lines of JavaScript. There are bugs to be fixed, addition Flash support and improved performance also need to be achieved. To do this, Smokescreen is going open source later this month.
For previews and news on Smokescreen, head to smokescreen.us. We'll update the story when the tool becomes open.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
KDE Unleashes Plasma 6.5
The Plasma 6.5 desktop environment is now available with new features, improvements, and the usual bug fixes.
-
Xubuntu Site Possibly Hacked
It appears that the Xubuntu site was hacked and briefly served up a malicious ZIP file from its download page.
-
LMDE 7 Now Available
Linux Mint Debian Edition, version 7, has been officially released and is based on upstream Debian.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Reaches EOL
Linux kernel 6.16 has reached its end of life, which means you'll need to upgrade to the next stable release, Linux kernel 6.17.
-
Amazon Ditches Android for a Linux-Based OS
Amazon has migrated from Android to the Linux-based Vega OS for its Fire TV.
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.