Step 1 – Download the latest version of Firefox. I recommend you use the Extended Support Release (ESR) package, as it is intended for large groups and organizations that need to mass deploy Firefox in a desktop environment. This version is also more stable and secure than the regular version of Firefox, which is intended for personal use. Shumway is still pretty much a work in progress. Since you use Linux there is a experimental Fresh Player Plugin wrapper that can make use of the Pepper Flash plugin that comes with Google Chrome. And no Mozilla has no plans to make use of the Pepper Flash player with Firefox. Described as 'an HTML5 technology experiment', Shumway is intended to provide a web-native implementation of Adobe's SWF Flash file format, used for vector graphics and multimedia. According to Jet Villegas, Mozilla's Senior Engineering Manager for Firefox, the Shumway project currently has two main goals. Download Mozilla Firefox, a free web browser. Firefox is created by a global not-for-profit dedicated to putting individuals in control online. Get Firefox for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS today! So in order to install it on one of these which is not the Firefox Nightly, you will have to go to the Shumway Github page here and then go down the page until you get to the Getting Started section, in this section there are two sub-sections, go to the Extension one and click on the link to install Shumway in.
Well this is some amazing news that has been a long time coming. You can take your Flash apps and run them without Flash, and take your Silverlight apps and (almost) run them without Silverlight.
If you still don't think JavaScript has won the web, please read on.
Shumway - Flash in JavaScript and HTML 5
The Mozilla Project 'Shumway' has been a long time coming (as long ago as 2012, but it's now ready to be looked at more deeply).
Chris Peterson, a Program Manager on the Mozilla Shumway says:
'Shumway is in a race to stay relevant as Flash fades from the web, but there will always be a long-tail of Flash content that would/will be lost when Adobe or browsers stop supporting the Flash plugin.'
Think about that. We've all largely got 'Evergreen Browsers' now that update themselves as often as weekly, but sometimes it feels like Adobe Flash is being attacked daily, so we're told to update that as well. Flash itself has more than fallen from grace, as Chris points out, it's fading from the web itself. Fast forward a year or so when there is no more Flash installed, but there's still Flash on the web. Enter Shumway - it's a renderer for SWF (Flash files) without native code! Shumway literally.
Why is it called Shumway? Again, Chris:
'The name 'Shumway' is derived from 'Gordon Shumway', the actual name of the TV character ALF: Flash -> Flash Gordon -> Gordon Shumway -> Shumway.'
That's awesome. What else is awesome? 'Shumway is written in TypeScript. It has an ActionScript interpreter and a JIT that generates JavaScript, compiled using eval().'
So Shumway is an HTML experiment that uses TypeScript (a modern typed JavaScript compiler/transpiler) to read ActionScript and resources and JIT the result into evaluated JavaScript. Fantastic. It's also open source and on GitHub. Even better, the Firefox Nightly is using Shumway for Flash videos on Amazon.com. This is the beginning of their test, I presume, to sunset Flash in Firefox.
Fayde - Silverlight in JavaScript and HTML5 Canvas
At the same time, there's The Fayde project. Also Open Source, Fayde also compiles to JavaScript. But Fayde transforms Silverlight into HTML5 Canvas and JavaScript! It's an implementation of a XAML engine in JS. Here's a near-Silverlight implementation of the classic Todo application, expressed on the web without plugins. Not enough? Here's a complex Fantasy Football app written in a Silverlight-like environment but running in your browser, again, without Silverlight.
.png "Shumway firefox extension")
To be clear, there are significant architectural differences between these two projects. Shumway reads the binary SWF format and tries to Be Flash, while Fayde is reimagining, if you will, that takes the Silverlight concepts of ViewModels and Views in XAML and adds TypeScript (a comfortable language for the C#-familiar) with the result rendered on a Canvas. It's not a Silverlight Emulator, it's a Silverlight-like implementation and app development pattern for HTML5. It's open source, and they are looking for participation, so head over and get involved! Fayde may be the Silverlight migration strategy you've been looking for.
Aside: From my perspective, it's not unreasonable to imagine taking something like JSIL (listen to my podcast on this amazing project) or a similar IL->JS system and combine it with Fayde to somehow run XAPs as well.
I love how crazy JavaScript is and what people have been able to do with it. Now, go run this PC Emulator (~virtual machine) written by Fabrice Bellard in JavaScript. It's Linux, on a 486, in your browser, in JavaScript. *brain explodes*
Have a lovely day and enjoy today's Open Web.
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.
AboutNewsletter
- Shumway Github
- Firefox Extension Preview
- 2Status Reports
- 4Current Shumway In Nightly
Shumway Firefox Extension
Create a new status report from the template:<createbox>align=lefttype=createpreload=Shumway/Status/0-0-0default=2021-04-26prefix=Shumway/Status/</createbox>
2015
We're in the process of defining a roadmap towards a 1.0/ Minimum Viable Product release. In the meantime, an overview of our preliminary milestones and their dependencies can be viewed on our roadmap page.
- Available in Nightly on Desktop for all platforms, *preff'd off*
- Will not ride the trains for now, so not available on Aurora, Beta, and Release
- Target Audience
- Flash and web developers who want to test their content with Shumway and a general audience of folks who are interested in a Flash Player Alternative and want to provide feedback.
how do I enable it?
- Easy. Just go to about:config and search for shumway.disabled. Flip that pref to 'false' and you should be all set
- There are other prefs to explore which you can read more about, here: https://github.com/mozilla/shumway/wiki/Debugging-and-Configuring-Shumway#using-the-extension
Shumway Firefox Free
What about the Summit Demo?
- You can check it out, here: http://areweflashyet.com/summit2013/candy.html
Shumway Firefox Update
Product Roadmap & User Stories [In Progess]
- As a Firefox user, I have a more stable browsing experience because Firefox natively renders Flash ads, increasing my user satisfaction, usage, and likelihood to recommend.
- As a Firefox user, I have a more responsive browsing experience because Flash ads in background tabs are throttled, increasing my user satisfaction, usage, and likelihood to recommend.
- As a Firefox user, I can opt in to Firefox native Flash support so that I can help Mozilla test the feature.
- As a Firefox user, I have a mechanism to revert to the Adobe Flash player for specific content blocks, so I am not broken in cases where Firefox's native rendering is insufficient.