
All the BBC video reports and iPlayer programmes still ask for Flash to be activated on my Firefox 47.0. Does Flash need to be completely uninstalled to make the BBC use HTML5?
Firefox will next month automatically block invisible Flash content that users cannot see when loading a page, says Mozilla as it continues its campaign against Adobe's plugin. This should protect netizens from dodgy webpages that load hidden malicious Flash files that attempt to infect their computers with malware or perform …
Same here; linux box with no flash installed. "Install Flash Player" for any news video, same for three random iplayer things from last night - complaining that they can't be played on the html5 beta - and the the same on a random thing from Radio 4. Listen live just sits there loading for ever and ever...
C'mon guys, it's not *that* difficult. If Youtube can do it, I'm sure you can.
iPlayer seems OK with no flash installed on Firefox - but any news video comes up install flash (or at least was last time I checked)
Set your user agent to something like iOS and even the Beeb will work properly (so I wonder why they don't serve that by default). However, "iPlayer Download" is based on *cough, barf, splutter* Adobe Air, which I consider a worse abomination than even Flash - Flash has never managed to halt OSX completely, whereas Adobe Air manages that with ease (the only application that does so, so God alone knows WTF those idiots have done).
for insisting that it needs flash to be installed.
My MBP has never had that abomination called Flash installed and still I get sites that can't even show the home page because it is all written in Flash.
Those sites I blacklist but it is hard to see why the BBC can't simply move everyone over to the mobile site and be done with it. After all iOS has never had flash (and whatever you think of Steve Jobs, this was a smart decision ) and it shows the BBC pages perfectly well.
I dislike Google's business practices as the next guy but keeping their browser around just for flash sites has been my strategy for quite some time. Flash is built into Chrome, usually the most up to date version and most importantly sand boxed correctly. The problem for the longest time with FF is the separate flash plugin necessary was actually available for more than just FF and was not sandboxed and often out of date. Haven't followed if that has changed recently though. I do know the first thing I do when I install FF or Palemoon is install NoScript and by default block flash and java always for both black and white listed sites.
I use Chrome for similar reasons but on Ubuntu 15.10 it crashes a lot. Example 1: Log into bank, and get a "WebGL has crashed, continue or reload?". Example 2: Log into Plex and after streaming some movies and quitting I find that Chrome had actually crashed at the login screen (the auto fill password is where it goes wrong). Maybe these problems will go away when I get around to installing 16.04.
Chrome version 51.0.2704.106 (64-bit)
Sorry to hear. Got tired of Ubuntu and Unity long ago so can't comment except to say at least on LMDE for the few limited media websites (mostly Youtube, Netflix) I use it for it works brilliant. Still use https everywhere and privacy badger on it along with running it through privoxy because I do that will all browsers always by habit. Also don't use a Google account ever because fsck Google. Also I saw something this morning about how to use pepper to safely sandbox flash even with Firefox but considering I use Palemoon (same plugin system but still) instead as my system browser not worth the bother for me since Chrome works. Actually mainly browse with Midori (only browser really modern and fast enough to do this at least on my hardware) running out of an OpenBSD VM (ssh X forwarding SECURITY extension on) through tor, polipo, and privoxy jacked up. Sorry for the tl;dr.
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Forgot to mention I use Pale Moon as my main browser because any browser you enter passwords in regularly really should have the NoScript addon and plus FF itself includes telemetry code PM doesn't (plus Pale Moon a bit more obscure for attack purposes). Goes without saying any Google code is bound to spy on you so Chrome as a main browser is a no go. Still with Chrome Netflix just works which definitely can't be said for FF (last I tried).
>Chrome version 51.0.2704.106 (64-bit)
Was going to say try the 32 bit version but remember Chrome no longer has a 32 bit version (you could probably still get the last version they released and might match age of your OS better but probably has unpatched security holes). You might also try latest Opera (not Presto usually in repos so will need to download deb from Opera web site) as it comes with PPAPI (sandboxed) flash built in as well.
>So Java must be the plug in from hell. I never install/enable it any more.
The JRE itself is a security risk but much less than IcedTea (should brand it something less satisfying but more accurate like crushed testicles) or any other Java plugin (which are separate from the JRE but expose it to the intertubes) which is one of the first thing you should remove from any Linux distro (along with Flash).
"Java is the "plugin from hell". Flash is a distant second."
thumbsup from me. And I assume that's JAVA, not javascript, though javascript _IS_ the cancer that kills "teh intarwebs". 300k+ for freaking jquery or whatever OTHER garbage-script that could be done with style sheets or good-old-fashioned-html. YUCHHH!
Don't know about BBC video as I'm in the states and cannot be arsed trying to get round their geo blocking. I do use BBC radio all the time and last time I looked they had a beta HTML5 setting so as not to use flash. It didn't work for me so had to go back to flash, alas. That was about a month ago so don't know if they progressed any. Still, at least they're working on it. I cannot think of anything else I MUST have so once the BBC pulls out its fingers and thumbs I should be able to drop the flash thing once and for all.
For anyone interested goto http://www.bbc.co.uk/html5
Last time I went to the html5 page it said my browser was not supported, now it says 'we expect your browser to work' (Firefox 43 was on the list of supported I'm on Firefox 47). But when I clicked through to the news, and a video item 'You need to install Flash' popped up again (after a couple of seconds delay to give me false hope).
What the hell is wrong with giving an option to switch to beta (and warning it is a beta) if it detects no Flash? Clearly Firefox 47 trumps Firefox 43 or is this working on the redmond data vacuum system and this is the usual 'Linux blindness....
I'm not going to be cutting on the next BBC survey, I'm going to be scathing.....
I worked for the firm for thirty-odd years, *and* I did some (project, not code) work on the radio iplayer six years ago. I'm going to be bloody furious if they don't get their act together sometime soon.
I wonder if its because of all these 'smart' TVs whose browsers can't be updated and are restricted to flash?
@ Cynical Observer
"Just looked tonight and the News site is playing videos for Firefox on Linux - no flash at all on this machine. I’m sure that as recently as last week it was demanding Flash."
- Using Firefox? Any change to User Agent?
- Beeb still acting like a terminal Flash addict on the News site for me Firefox 47.0.1 on Archlinux, definitely no flash installed whatsoever. Checked less than a minute ago.
I'm on often enough I get about 3 surveys requests a year, and I've been increasingly pointed about the need for flash on every one. Next one I am going to be cutting...
@ Teiwaz
Checked again this afternoon - video plays OK on the News site.
OpenSuse Tumbleweed
Firefox 47.0.1
User Agent Overrider installed - but currently not working (Set to Default)
Other add ons that really shouldn't matter....
uBlockOrigin
NoScript - BBC allowed
Privacy Badger and Disconnect
Certainly last week it was demanding Flash be installed.
"The BBC news site will play HTML 5 video *if* your user agent looks like something mobile."
No, it won't.
It might try to and it might actually download the content but when it tries to play I get "This content does not seem to be working."
All BBC News videos and audio files.
I wouldn't know about iPlayer as I've yet to see any of their programs that I would like to watch.
Using Chrome 51.0.2704.106m (64-bit), on this page: An underwater drone to explore the deep the site asked me to activate Flash to view the video.
I think firefox used to have a global setting that let you determine whether or not flash COULD be enabled. There WAS a web page for youtube to (by default) play in HTML5...
https://www.youtube.com/html5
it has some browser compatibility tests on it. might be helpful.
They're obviously very touchy on the subject, perhaps a BBC insider on here could give us the lowdown? I phoned in a question to a BBC radio programme on internet security specifically asking why they needed flash player, predictably they turned it into a generic question about flash and why you should be careful from which sites you should download it.
Paris, the only flash player I'd have in my house, and even then.....
They're busy knocking back Flash and claiming it causes instability (fair enough) but what is their excuse for the utter lack of stability in their Flash-less and feature restricted Android client?
Once they knock down Flash what are they going to have to blame for the bloat, resource leaks, insecurity and instability other than their own junk code base?
The sooner Flash is finished the better. But HTML5 has to be able to handle everything, which it doesn't. The BBC are a real pain, but they're not the only idiots on the block. Sick of the install a wretched flash plugin message using my Android devices.
Die, Flash, die!