Wow, what a stuck-up response to a serious question.
My point is, market forces drive innovation. "Flash is proprietary" -- in what possible way is that bad? Most of the luxuries of life are proprietary. Humanity is better for having the concept of "proprietary".
Imagine how you'd feel if someone was saying, "Viaweb must die. Viaweb is evil. Viaweb is proprietary.". It would sound rediculous. And yet, Viaweb was a platform, just like Flash. So ask yourself, why does that sound rediculous? Could it be that there is some pent-up anger or frustration with Adobe and Microsoft in particular, and that anger is distorting our ability to look at the situation objectively? I don't know. I personally think Microsoft has added a lot of real value over the years, and that the world is better with them than without them.
Also, I don't like feeling as if I'm in a roomful of zealots. Please make thoughtful continutions to Hacker News.
if viaweb were acting as a mini-monopoly back in their day, then yes, i think "viaweb must die" might have very well been heard at the time, and with good reason.
adobe is showing every sign of desiring exactly the sort of monopoly with flash that microsoft created with windows. given the damage that monopoly did to the tech sector, i consider this something worth getting worked up over.
