I'm going to switch to Linux with my new computer. I've read something weird about Firefox not supporting Flash on Linux (Chrome seems to support it, but I wouldn't want to switch if possible). The only sites I remember that I visit that use Flash are Youtube (with which I have no problem because I suppose it'll work fine with HTML5 (it'll work even better, because now with flash player I can't use the HTML5-only half speed configuration) and minigame sites (which I suppose it won't work anymore, but that's no big deal).
However, will this affect other sites I can't remember now? Just to be sure, is there any good alternative? (I've heard about Lightspark and Gnash, but they say that they aren't very good).
Best Answer
Google has taken over maintenance of the Flash player on Linux and the Google Chrome browser is the only browser that can use this version (even the fully open sourced Chromium browser does not, though I suppose it may be possible to add it as a plugin).
Other browsers can still use the Flash player plugin supplied by Adobe. I've read many times that Adobe has abandoned support for this but I still receive Flash updates from Adobe all the time, though always for version 11.2.
If you don't care about watching videos then you will be fine with the Adobe version of flash and Firefox.
The only trouble I have with the Adobe flash is for viewing authenticated videos (i.e., videos that can only be accessed after logging in to a site). For example, videos on XfinityTV, NBC Sports, and Watch ESPN, require logging in to view the videos and I cannot play them in Firefox. Most of the time if I switch to Google Chrome I have no problem playing them. Some authenticated videos can be played with Adobe flash, like those on the NHL Game Center site.
I know that Lightspark and Gnash won't help playing authenticated videos and I can't say how well they perform on non-video flash sites.
Normal videos, such as what you'll find on YouTube or Hulu, have no problem with either the Google or the Adobe flash plugin (I'm not sure about Hulu+).