open-source-flash

This repository is a petition asking Adobe to release the source code and technical specifications for Flash Player and Shockwave Player as open source. When Adobe announced in 2017 that it would stop distributing and updating both products, a developer started this GitHub repository as a way for people to show support for the idea. Starring the repository serves as signing the petition.

The reasoning behind the petition is that Flash and Shockwave were major platforms for creative work on the early internet: games, interactive art, experimental websites, and animations that cannot simply be saved as a video and still retain their interactive qualities. Without a way to run Flash content, that work becomes inaccessible to future audiences. Open sourcing the code would give independent developers a chance to build emulators, converters, or standalone players. The petitioners acknowledged that Adobe might need to remove licensed third-party components and said they would work around any gaps.

The README includes a long list of example Flash and Shockwave works that supporters believe deserve preservation, including games, art projects, and interactive websites from the early 2000s. It also links to media coverage of the petition from The Register, Gizmodo, The Next Web, and other publications.

This is not a software project in the usual sense. It contains no runnable application code. Its content is the petition text, a draft letter to Adobe, and lists of links to notable Flash content and press coverage. People participate by starring the repository.