FLASH Playback

Since Flash files do not depend on an open standard such as SVG, this reduces the incentive for non-commercial software to support the format, although there are several third party tools which use and generate the SWF file format. IrfanView is capable of playing SWF files. There is a large and vibrant open source community. Flash Player cannot ship as part of a pure open source, or completely free operating system, as its distribution is bound to the Macromedia Licensing Program and subject to approval.

There is, as of late 2007, no complete free software replacement which offers all the functionality of the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. Gnash, based on GameSWF, is a Flash player replacement that is under development and has the support of the Free Software Foundation. Gnash supports Flash 7 and below, but not files that require version 8 or 9 features.