Bounty for Flash9 in Opera in FreeBSD

It's well known that I use FreeBSD as a platform at both JohnCompanies and rsync.net. However, it may be surprising to learn that I also use it as my desktop and laptop operating system.

In the eight years that FreeBSD has been my operating environment, I have had surprisingly few issues with hardware compatibility or application support. This is not surprising, as I run almost nothing but xterms and Opera.

However, two issues are becoming more and more difficult to work around:

1. I need an up to date vmware. I have been using an extremely old Vmware 3 license in Linux binary compatibility mode since 2002. Although I continue to make do with this old version today, I would really like a modern version of Vmware - especially now that Vmware 6 has 3d virtualization.

2. I need Flash 9 to work with Opera. The mob has spoken and apparently every site on the web needs yet another unnecessary layer of complexity and gimmickry, and I just can't work without flash anymore. I am currently using linux-flashplugin-7.0r69 with Opera 9.20 but there are more sites every day that require at least Flash 8.

The first problem was addressed earlier this year when I included "Vmware 6.x on FreeBSD" in the 2007 rsync.net Code Bounties. At the time of this writing, Orlando Bassotto, who was responsible for the original Vmware3 port in FreeBSD, has taken on the project and reports that it is moving forward. I hope to have Vmware 6.x running on FreeBSD (in Linux binary compatibility mode, of course) in the first quarter of 2008.

I will now address the second problem here with a new bounty:

I will pay $200 to whoever can compose a working and stable recipe for running Adobe Flash 9 inside of the FreeBSD native version of Opera 9 on FreeBSD 6.x. This shouldn't be that hard - in fact, there is already a linux-flashplugin9 port. The trouble is, even if you do convince your browser to use the plugin, it crashes frequently and generally "doesn't work". I think a good proof of success would be the ability to play arbitrary content on YouTube without complication, or perhaps use all of google maps / google finance without crashing.

If you would like to contribute funds to the bounty, add your name, email address and a dollar amount as a comment below. The more money there is in the pot, the faster things get done...

Comments

[Dan Langille]

My contribution to the bounty is free admission to BSDCan and tutorials.

From 2007, this was worth roughly CAD$400.

[Ulrich Spoerlein]

I'll add EUR 100,- (~USD 147,-) into the pot if someone manages to make Flash9 "just work" on FreeBSD.

[Rudy]

Another bounty!
REWARD: free hosting of your 1U server for 4 months -- including 10Mbps. If you don't want hosting, the backup prize is: $100. Take your pick (1U hosting is worth more, but maybe you don't need hosting...)

My bounty terms:
o Flash9 plugin working in a stable manner on FreeBSD 7.x
o Arbitrary deadline: The Ides of March, 2008! Beware the Ides!

I'll payout the same person paid out by kozubik (assuming my terms are met as well). If there are any *valid* arguments over who should get paid, then the money will go to FreeBSD.org! (example argument scenario: Adobe releases a FreeBSD port and several people claim to have 'fixed the problem').

[Mark Carlson]

Well, I hope as much as you do that we can get Flash working natively in FreeBSD, but in the meantime you may want to just install wine + firefox + flash (for windows). It's very easy and works reasonably well. It certainly isn't production-worthy, but if all you want is to visit some websites that are flash-only or have flash content you wish to view, it works! I did have one crash, but I don't remember if it was flash related or not. Wine is good, but not great, esp. on FreeBSD.