[HN Gopher] Embed Flash SWF content without the Plugin
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Embed Flash SWF content without the Plugin
        
       Author : velmu
       Score  : 54 points
       Date   : 2021-01-01 15:24 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (developers.ibexa.co)
 (TXT) w3m dump (developers.ibexa.co)
        
       | danboarder wrote:
       | "..decades of content built with Flash and published as SWF
       | (Small Web Format) files.." The SWF extension was originally an
       | acronym for ShockWave Flash file, not Small Web Format (however,
       | this was adopted later as a "backronym").
       | 
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWF
        
         | tyingq wrote:
         | Wikipedia says this:
         | 
         |  _" The term "SWF" has originated as an abbreviation for
         | ShockWave Flash.[5] This usage was changed[by whom?] to the
         | backronym Small Web Format to eliminate confusion with a
         | different technology, Shockwave, from which SWF derived.[6][7]
         | There is no official resolution to the initialism "SWF" by
         | Adobe.[8]"_
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWF
        
       | 32gbsd wrote:
       | I am surprised that flash wasn't made into a interactive video
       | format. At least for flash 2.0 content. Fk action script 3.
        
       | apignotti wrote:
       | Hi there, lead-dev of CheerpX for Flash and CTO of Leaning
       | Technologies here. If you are curious about our tech, feel free
       | do drop questions here or on Twitter:
       | https://twitter.com/alexpignotti
        
       | tyingq wrote:
       | If you decide to go a different route and hand install an older
       | Flash player that doesn't have the built-in time bomb, it appears
       | the version you want is 32.0.0.371 or older.
       | 
       | Unfortunately, there's a free-after-use vulnerability.
       | https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb2...
       | 
       | I'm somewhat surprised nobody has packaged up an old version and
       | wrapped it with "only run flash for these urls" and "don't update
       | the ppapi plugin" type functionality. All the pieces seem to be
       | available:
       | https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7084871?hl=en
        
         | kmeisthax wrote:
         | If you're looking for "old Flash with a curated set of movies"
         | you can use Flashpoint.
        
         | Santosh83 wrote:
         | Hasn't Adobe removed all Flash player binaries from their site?
        
           | tyingq wrote:
           | Yes, though the Internet Archive has 32.0.0.371 and many
           | other older versions: https://web.archive.org/web/20200701045
           | 943/https://helpx.ado...
        
         | Hello71 wrote:
         | > I'm somewhat surprised nobody has packaged up an old version
         | and wrapped it with "only run flash for these urls" and "don't
         | update the ppapi plugin" type functionality. All the pieces
         | seem to be available:
         | https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7084871?hl=en
         | 
         | This is likely to be of minimal use, since browsers will soon
         | be removing Flash support entirely. Firefox in particular is
         | carrying a significant amount of code to shim gtk2 in a gtk3
         | program.
        
           | tyingq wrote:
           | >since browsers will soon be removing Flash support entirely
           | 
           | My assumption is that if you manually install an older Flash
           | plugin that it will work.
        
             | sp332 wrote:
             | But it might only work in an older browser.
        
               | tyingq wrote:
               | Ppapi plugins are supposed to be supported through June
               | of 2022 in Chrome.
        
           | irrational wrote:
           | But you can run Flash files outside of a browser. At least,
           | you used to be able to. It's been a long time since I last
           | did that.
        
       | krapp wrote:
       | Worth mentioning, the Internet Archive is now archiving Flash
       | animations[0,1] using Ruffle.rs[2]
       | 
       | [0]http://blog.archive.org/2020/11/19/flash-animations-live-
       | for...
       | 
       | [1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25154128
       | 
       | [2]https://ruffle.rs/
        
       | emayljames wrote:
       | This one is the best I have seen. It converts the swf very
       | accurately: https://swf2js.com/en/
        
       | daviddever23box wrote:
       | A sandboxed, standalone inspector / player might be welcome for
       | archival use, but there's little light between Flash vulns and
       | candy-flavored menthol cigarettes, IMHO.
        
       | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
       | _> there is a lot of content built with Flash that is absolutely
       | worth preserving._
       | 
       | True, dat.
       | 
       | I remember a stick figure animation interactive story, called
       | "Time to Die," that was a riot.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-01-01 23:01 UTC)