I spent the last 3 years developing complex data visualization apps. We had strict constraints as to what kind of browsers we could expect(think government agencies) hence our use of Flash/Flex to build the rich apps our customers required. Flex helped us build some really cool stuff quickly, and had a rich ecosystem of tools, resources, and examples to draw upon. I'm really disappointed that Adobe didn't even provide some sort of gradual migration strategy. They basically took the only parachute in the airplane and jumped, yelling, "We are going to make it open source!" on the way out.
I have a difficult conversation waiting for me on Monday with my boss when I explain that our significant code base is now part of a legacy platform that the vendor has jettisoned. The software industry has an interesting gambling component: you bet on which language/technology/platform is going to be popular and hope for the best. Looks like I rolled snake-eyes.
Sorry mate, ever heard of vendor lock-in ? This is what happens adopting closed source technologies, they sounds great to start, then ... here you are.
Migrating to community-supported-free-open-source technologies "suddenly" makes sense.
Wasn't flex also open source at some point? I remember there was some hype about it a few years ago. At least the compiler and SDK were opened.
Back then I played around with it a bit and eventually concluded the new AS was basically a re-do of the Java language, library and ecosystem (even the bytecode was similar). I know there is a curse on Java in the browser, and making it look like Java helps enterprise adoption, but mirroring Java to that degree looked like a bit of a wasted effort.
"""Sorry mate, ever heard of vendor lock-in ? This is what happens adopting closed source technologies, they sounds great to start, then ... here you are."""
So, you didn't really understood that part where he wrote that for their specific requirements Flex was better suited, and enabled them to deliver stuff that they couldn't otherwise (at least without much pain)?
Also, yeah, it's like this kind of thing never happens to open source projects. Like, for example, the community loses interest and moves on, or decides to change the direction of the project to something you can't work with and don't care about, and the old platform you were building on is suddenly left to digital rot (no new features, not adapted to new environment and os releases, no more fixes, etc).
Sure, you still have the source for the old project.
But it's damn near useless unless you have the will, the knowledge, the time, and the manpower to fork it and adapt it to your needs, or the money to pay others to do it.
You have to understand that living at the whims of a volunteer community has it's own drawbacks, compared to living at the whims of a commercial company.
The problem with the Flex community as it is today is that the sponsor of the community has no direct responsibility to the community except as it benefits the company. Obviously this will be fixed as soon as it is handed to a sponsor that, in effect, _is_ the community.
"I'm really disappointed that Adobe didn't even provide some sort of gradual migration strategy". This might not be much of a consolation, but I'm sure they'll be offering a solution in the form of an alternative product that will be familiar to Flex developers.
I have a difficult conversation waiting for me on Monday with my boss when I explain that our significant code base is now part of a legacy platform that the vendor has jettisoned. The software industry has an interesting gambling component: you bet on which language/technology/platform is going to be popular and hope for the best. Looks like I rolled snake-eyes.