My Tribute to Flash 9 on Linux: Compiz Like Wobbly Windows

I’m sitting in Caribou Coffee in Ann Arbor Michigan looking out at beautiful ice covered trees glistening in the sunlight. It’s Jan 17th 2007 and this day is going down in history! Today is the day Flash Player 9 was officially released for Linux! This is HUGE! The web allows anyone with a PC to engage with information and others. Flash has always pushed the limits of how that engagement happens, most recently with video. Even though many Desktop Linux users prefer free software, Adobe has still committed to making Flash work on Linux. I think this is noble. Do you see MS or Apple doing this with their platforms? By having Flash 9 for Linux, Desktop Linux is made all that much better. I have been using Linux as a desktop since ‘96 and without Flash I would be missing out on some pretty amazing stuff. Some will say “But Flash isn’t Open Source”. You are right. But if you don’t want to run proprietary software, rather than complain, go help Gnash. Ok, now that I’ve espoused my religious views, lets move on to the cool stuff!

First the demo: Wobbly Windows on the Web

That’s using Flash Player 9 and was built with the free Flex SDK. The wobble isn’t as refined as Compiz’s/Beryl’s, but that can be fixed once I (or you) figure out the math for doing that. Let’s walk through how you can compile that application.

First get the code from SourceForge. It’s in the wobbly module of the flexapps repository.

You need to get the free Flex SDK. Also if you don’t have it, you will need the Sun JDK 1.4 or better.

Set the FLEX_SDK to where you extracted the Flex SDK to.

In the directory where you checked out the wobbly code, run build.sh

Load the build/wobbly.html file in your browser!

This still needs some work, and since it’s Open Source, I’d love your help! Let me know what you think.