Free Flash Player
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I require a Flash player to view videos on a certain website, and I'm running Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. I decided to install Gnash via Synaptic. The video element in the webpage is a dark box, which asks me to run Flash; I click on it and then Firefox prompts me to allow Flash to run, which I do, but, where the video is, there is only white space.
Is there a way to make Gnash work? I also know of Lightspark, but I don't know how to install it.
Flash is a disgusting piece of software riddled with bugs and exploits. Most proper websites have already discontinued using it. Browsers like Chrome are officially removing flash from their browsers this year.
I would recommend that you find an alternative to Flash for your own sake. If you can find the same video on a different website perhaps.
Gnash is super old from what I remember and it doesn't run all that well even when it works. You might need to install actual Flash from the official site to run the video you want. Seeing as you are on Ubuntu and not Trisquel, it should be easy enough to install that stuff with non-free stuff in Ubuntu.
Again I recommend you avoid Flash like its Covid-19
Yes, I agree with your sentiments regarding Flash.
I'm writing to the webmaster to see if there's a way of watching the videos without running Flash, but I'm not sure how keen they will be to help me out.
In the event that Flash is the only option, apart from installing the Adobe Flash Player (which I really want to avoid), what could I do to watch those videos? If Gnash is not functional, could someone aid me in installing Lightspark?
Gnash used to be functional, but it was only compatible with very old Flash versions, maybe up to 8 or 9.
Lightspark seems to be a way better "solution". If you want to install it, just follow the instructions on its website and compile it by yourself.
Ultimately, if Flash is the only way to watch something, my decision is to not watch it.
I once read that the problem with flash is that even if one had a free (as in freedom) flash player, then that player would be executing nonfree software sent by the website (as is the case with proprietary javascript). Idk how flash works inside and whether something as simple as just watching a video through it actually involves executing some downloaded crap, but if You wish to avoid nonfree code, then be careful with it.
How about video-downloaders? Youtube-dl supports downloading videos from dozens of websites (for some time it also tries to execute website's javascript in hope of getting a video it doesn't otherwise know how to obtain - you could try https://libregit.org/heckyel/hypervideo instead). There also used to be browser extensions like 'HTML5 Video Everywhere' that were supposed to allow viewing of videos without all that js and flash crap. Finally, there are websites, that allow downloading online videos and they might sometimes work where those earlier methods don't... These perhaps shouldn't be recommended, as they are SaaSS (Service as a Software Substitute), but I'm not sure... If a website downloads a video for You, then maybe it's more of a "Service as a Service Substitute"? ;)
Still, most of such websites would either require javascript to operate or throw ReCaptcha at You (or both) :/
Btw, what site is it You need to watch the video from? Or is it something You don't want to/cannot say?
I also think video-downloaders might work. When I was in middle school there was a method of downloading flash games directly from the browser. It would rip the .swf file directly from the website, perhaps once downloaded Gnash might run it?
Edit: I believe you can rip from 'Page Source', on abrowser/firefox should be Ctrl+U to find the flash .swf file? It's been over a decade since I last did this so it might not be correct.
"I once read that the problem with flash is that even if one had a free (as in freedom) flash player, then that player would be executing nonfree software sent by the website (as is the case with proprietary javascript)."
You're thinking of ActionScript and yes it is probably the case that that code is not free, even if someone is using free software player to interpret it.
These are the instructions, which I found from the README.md file, to build and install Lightspark:
Building and Installation
-------------------------
To compile this software you need to install development packages for:
* opengl
* curl
* zlib
* libavcodec
* libavresample
* libglew
* pcre
* librtmp
* cairo
* libboost-filesystem,
* sdl2
* sdl2_mixer
* libjpeg
* libavformat
* pango
* liblzma
If JIT compilation using llvm is enabled (this is disabled by default),
you also need the development packages for llvm (version 2.8 or >= 3.0)
If compiling the PPAPI (Chromium) plugin is enabled (on by default), keep in mind that
it will replace the Adobe Flash plugin, as only one flash plugin is allowed in Chromium.
Also install the following tools:
* cmake
* nasm
* gcc (version 4.6.0 or newer) or clang
To build the software please follow these steps.
```bash
cd lightspark
mkdir obj
cd obj
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
make
sudo make install
```
As I'm a new user of GNU/Linux, could you please advise how to proceed?
Then simply follow the instructions. First install all necessary development packages (the package name ends with -dev). Then install the required tools (cmake, nasm, gcc, etc.). When these steps are done, extract the source code package and proceed with compiling and installation.
Ultimately, the advice to new users is to not watch Flash video on a free/libre GNU/Linux distribution. This job is too sophisticated for beginners (while keeping their freedom). At least one should know how to manually compile and install software packages from source code.
When you immediately understand the instructions on Lightspark project's readme file, you are ready to handle with the "sophisticated" job on a free/libre GNU/Linux distribution. But at that point, you probably no longer want to watch Flash video.
There is a lightspark available from the Trisquel repos. You can use Add/Remove Applications to install it. I presume it will also install, with all its dependencies, if you open a terminal and type:
sudo apt install lightspark -y
Then enter you admin password and press enter.
An explanation of this command, for those new to the command line.
sudo: tells the terminal to run the command with super cow powers, instead of just as an ordinary user.
apt: tells the terminal to run the Apt program, which is used to update your system, and add or remove programs.
install: this one is pretty obvious ;)
lightspark: again, pretty obvious, the name of the primary package you are trying to install.
-y: skips the step where the terminal will ask you if you're sure you want to install the package(s) it identifies as relating to the name you typed after "install".
Good luck!
Definitely better if you can get the webmaster to replace the Flash, with "< video >" tags that point to a local file on the webserver, or an embed of a copy of the video on PeerTube (if it's a video), or whatever. That would save all the visitors to the site from being exposed to Flash, without them going through the headache you have been to avoid infection ;)
Thank you for your directions!
> This job is too sophisticated for beginners (while keeping their freedom).
Indeed. I didn't go through with the installation yet, nor do I intend to for the moment, to be honest. I'll try to convince the webmaster to change the set-up.
> There is a lightspark available from the Trisquel repos.
Yes, but I'm on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, which doesn't offer it.
> An explanation of this command
Thanks!
> Definitely better if you can get the webmaster to replace the Flash, with "< video >" tags that point to a local file on the webserver, or an embed of a copy of the video on PeerTube (if it's a video), or whatever. That would save all the visitors to the site from being exposed to Flash, without them going through the headache you have been to avoid infection ;)
Thanks for this! I'll definitely suggest it. If you have any other suggestions, let me know.
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