[TAG] .SWF files (Flash)

[Benjamin A. Okopnik]

On Sat, Feb 11, 2006 at 10:18:23AM -0800, Mike Orr wrote:
> On 2/11/06, Benjamin A. Okopnik <ben at linuxgazette.net> wrote:
> > On Sat, Feb 11, 2006 at 04:20:59PM +0000, Jimmy O'Regan wrote:
> > > Benjamin A. Okopnik wrote:
> > > >On Fri, Feb 10, 2006 at 02:38:25PM -0800, Mike Orr wrote:
> > > >>It's been done before with Postscript
> > > >
> > > >Really? As far as I'm aware, Adobe just kept quietly releasing
> > > >Ghostscript as Free software one version behind from the very start,
> > >
> > > Ghostscript has nothing to do with Adobe, other than implementing a
> > > language they designed.
> >
> > This is what I recalled from reading their docs, a number of years
> > ago... but I seem to recall that they had a commercial and a free
> > version, one level apart. Is that right, or am I thinking of someone
> > else?
> 
> Aladdin had a commercial and a free version, one generation apart. 
> AFAIK they weren't related to Adobe.

That must have been it, thanks; I obviously mis-remembered the company
name, given the close connection with the format, etc.

> Adobe published the format for
> PDF only when market forces forced them to.  I remember an article
> about an executive "with tears in his eyes" as he made the
> announcement.  Because it was the end of their cash cow.

Well, not exactly. If it _was_ the end, then they wouldn't have had to
do anything - much less release the format into the wild. Their business
model was changing, and that often results in managers (who tend to be
highly conservative as a breed) cry lakes of salty tears. [shrug] Note
that Adobe is still in business, and going strong; old Bessy is still
producing lots of milk. Only the milking method has changed.


* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://linuxgazette.net *