My thoughts on Slackware, life and everything

Month: November 2014

Flash plugins updated – second time in November

Chromium and Pepper Flash:

Yesterday, there waschromium_icon a new Flash from Adobe. The second time in November, and this time Google accompanies it with an update of their Chrome browser (version 39.0.2171.71) which contains the new PepperFlash plugin. I extracted that plugin from the Chrome binaries and put it into an updated chromium-pepperflash-plugin package for Slackware 14.1 and -current.. Because of the new Chrome release, there’s also a new release of Chromium’s “stable channel” meaning an updated Chromium package for Slackware is on its way as well. You can read more on Google’s Chrome blog.

The new version of the PepperFlash plugin is 15.0.0.239. Test the success of your package upgrade on Adobe’s “About Flash” page (remember to close your Chromium browser before applying the upgrade).

Linux Flash:

adobe_flash_8s600x600_2 I also packaged the “legacy” Flash player pligin for Linux, aka the NPAPI plugin for Mozilla-compatible browsers. Adobe’s monthly security bulletin has all the information. The new version for my Linux flashplayer-plugin package is 11.2.202.424.

As an aside, it is interesting to read that Google has delayed the “depreciation of NPAPI” from their Chrome/Chromium browser. In our Linux versions of Chrome/Chromium, all support for NPAPI has already been removed in the summer of this year, but despite Google’s claim with statistics showing that the usage of NPAPI has been on a steady decline, they seem to have enough opposition from the Windows camp that their original plan (eradicate NPAPI from Chrome at the end of 2014) is not coming to pass. All of that is irrelevant to us Linux users, so anyway, who cares?

 

Pipelight with Windows Flash:

pipelight-logoFor my pipelight package, you can easily update the Windows plugins it installed for you earlier (including the Windows Flash player if you use that) by running (as root) the script:

# pipelight-plugin --update

A new package is not required therefore.

 

Eric

Handbrake – lost for Slackware

handbrake_logo Yesterday, I read about the newest release of Handbrake, the powerful video transcoder. I have handbrake in my Slackware repository, so I decided to dissect the source tarball for the 0.10.0 release and see what was needed to compile it into a package.

Boo hoo.

Handbrake 0.10.0 switched from a GTK+2 to a GTK+3 graphical user interface. Not only that, but it requires a version of GTK+3 that is not even contained in Slackware-current. We have 3.8.2 while handbrake uses functionality which was introduced with 3.10. We’re out in the cold, folks!

You might debate whether Slackware’s GTK+3 is not too old anyway, but then again, GTK releases are notorious for breaking all kinds of stuff thanks to ABI incompabilities. Slackware does not contain GNOME, so there is little reason to stay uptodate on the GTK+3 front when running the risk to break dependent packages.

Anyway, it means that you will not be getting a new handbrake package from me anymore. Perhaps when Slackware-current adopts a newer GTK+3 stack, I can reconsider. But even in that case, Slackware 14.1 and older will have to stick with handbrake 0.9.9 as the last release which will compile.

If time permits I will investigate the possibility of statically compiling GTK+3 plus several of other GTK+3 dependendants into the handbrake package. But that needs time which I do not have. You might already have guessed that – this blog has been pretty silent during the past month. Work related frustrations augmented by family issues, resulting in shifting priorities. To me, Slackware essentially is a hobby, it does not have to make me any money (even though some of you donated, for which my eternal gratefulness) and real life sometimes takes over.

If all you wanted to know was about handbrake then you can leave now.

So I’ll rant on if you cared to stay. Handbrake – big disappointment yesterday I must confess. I really liked that program. There’s also this general feeling of depression I have over the state of GNU/Linux, the Open Source community. my work on Slackware, and whether I can still make a difference. The effort I have put into Slackware, promoting the distro and Open Source in general, I’ve always enjoyed doing that. But the fun is eroding away, and there is this sense of stagnation. Things are moving perpendicular to the direction I want to go in. I am going to need some time for reflection around the end of 2014 and find a way to get invigorated again. Suggestions on a direction to take are welcome. There is not so much action around the distro currently. KDE 4 is about frozen, and KDE 5 is not mature. No joy there. LXQt seems to have jumped from Qt4 to Qt5, another step i do not like. Chromium dropped support for compiling NaCL support into 32-bit package – precisely the reason why I hate it that I need to depend on binary toolchains that are impossible to compile on Slackware. And what to do with my ARM port – I am looking at the mountain of work required to revive it. The list of recent frustrations is much longer than that, but you get the point… it all feels so pointless.

Depressed, you say? You bet! It must be an autumn feeling. Where’s the exit? Going to grab me a beer.

Eric

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