[BillGoatse]

"The $600 Flash authoring tool is the only way to produce Flash applications."

FlashDevelop : Free. OS Flex Compiler : Free.

If you're going to flame, at least know what you're talking about.

[nooneelse]

And when the first sentence of the blog entry, the basis for all that follows, is so wrong... shouldn't the correction/retraction for that be at the top, not at the bottom?

"Aliens attack.... because of that something else... something more still... Ok, it wasn't really aliens and there wasn't an attack, but a lot of that other stuff is maybe still true." Just seems weaselly to me.

[lurch_mojoff]

OK, let's be realistic here - this a little bit like saying that since there is GNUstep and GCC, you don't really need a Mac to develop for the iPhone. The bulk of Flash content online is developed with Adobe's authoring tools. That's why they are so protective of Flash.

[BillGoatse]

I'm a Flash Developer and, like many other Flash devs, I don't use Adobe's tools (I use FDT, which isn't free, but isn't Adobe either).

I agree that Flash isn't as open as many people would like, but it is way, way more open than the iPhone ecosystem.

[tomlin]

I second that. I've not used the Adobe IDE for a few years.

lurch_mojoff, please don't claim your personal experience as standard practice.

Try a search on Google, or read a few blogs about Flash development.

[trun]

Thirded. I've used FlashDevelop exclusively for a few years and used MTASC before that. There's really no need to pay for Adobe's tools to make Flash content.

[toluju]

Wrong. I've built a larger Flash-based application (no public link, sorry) using nothing but the Flex SDK and Java. You simply don't need Adobe's authoring tools to make a viable application.

[ergo98]

The now free Flex SDK not too long ago was the premiere Flash tool.

However the tool comparison is absurd. Having the freedom to choose tools doesn't mean they all have to be free.