In today's open source roundup: Is it a good idea to run Adobe Flash on your Linux system? Plus: Are boutique Linux distros worth considering? And Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 has been released Adobe Flash and your Linux computer Adobe’s Flash has gotten a bad rap for quite a long time now. One redditor asked how people deal with Flash on their Linux computers, and his fellow redditors pulled no punches in their responses. Fcuke5r5 asked his question about Flash and Linux: “How do you replace Adobe Flash? Pepperflash, Gnash, Lightspark etc? What are the benefits and differences have you experienced?” More at Reddit His fellow redditors responded: Rage2people: “I don’t replace it, I simply removed it. Even porn sites switch over to HTML5. The more people keep flash away, the less traffic flash based sites get and the faster they innovate or vanish.” Alienwaren: “One acronym: HTML5.” JedTheKrampus: “Kill it with the cleansing fire of a thousand suns.” CthulhuIsTheBestGod: “I have not needed flash for a long while, but one alternative you could check out is shumway.” Baizon: “HTML5, and for livestreams Livestreamer + Open with Livestreamer Firefox addon + mpv. Else I’m waiting for the Shumway project to replace Flash.” WolvenBSD: “Killed it, and didn’t replace it. Like others have said, HTML5 and webm meet the needs.” Siomi: “Today Mozilla announced the arrival of Shumway to Firefox Nightly (it has been a plugin for some time but now it is being shipped with Firefox by default). It is a replacement of Adobe Flash Player made for Firefox. Developers call it a web-native runtime implementation of the SWF file format. Not a reliable replacement for now, but I advice to keep an eye on it especially if you are a Firefox fan.” More at Reddit I shared my own thoughts about Flash in a blog post from a few years ago: I decided recently to see what the modern Web was like without Flash, so I uninstalled it from one of my systems. The first thing I noticed was that the Flash ads were gone. I still saw ads on Web pages I visited, but without most of the irritating animation. (Some pages used animated GIFs, but there were a lot fewer of those.) This meant that I also missed out on some parts of Web sites that used Flash—things like interactive slide shows and games weren’t viewable in my browser. And you know what? I enjoyed not having Flash all over the place while browsing. The Web became a less obnoxious place, somewhat easier to navigate and find the information and entertainment I wanted. More at Jim Lynch Are boutique Linux distros worth running? There are many different Linux distros available, including some smaller projects that might be classified as “boutique” distributions. Are boutique distros worth running? A writer at Datamation considers the value of these distributions for Linux users. Matt Hartley reports for Datamation: I believe having choice has grown the Linux community by leaps and bounds. Think about how boring it would be if there were only two distributions to choose from. If each came with only one desktop environment and you didn’t like it, then you’d be out of luck. To me, that sounds far more frightening and it’s something our friends that use proprietary operating systems appear to be accepting of. I’m a fan of the smaller boutique Linux distributions available today. I love the idea of trying something new or simply attempting to look at a new way of installing my favorite Linux software. It’s exciting and it keeps me interested in a platform that has seen a tremendous amount of maturity in recent years. I, for one, welcome all the Linux distributions available and also those yet to be developed. More at Datamation Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 released The Bodhi Linux distribution has been updated to version 3.0.0. The Bodhi site has full details about this release: Today I am very happy to share with you the first stable release for the third major update to the Bodhi Linux operating system. After a few small bumps our 3.0.0 release is finally our stable release! Notable features in the 3.0.0 release: Enlightenment E19.3 Terminology 0.8.0 ePad 0.9.0 Numix Icons Linux Kernel 3.16 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Core More at Bodhi You can download Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 with these links: Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 32-bit Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 64-bit Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 Legacy Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 Chromebook Image credit: Bodhi Linux Image credit: Bodhi Linux If you run into any problems with Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 be sure to visit the Bodhi forum to connect with other users and get assistance. Did you miss a roundup? Check the Eye On Open home page to get caught up with the latest news about open source and Linux. Software DevelopmentOpen Source