Not too long back, I had a reader ask me whether or not it was worth it to try one of the Linux distributions released for 64bit architecture vs that of 32bit. I thought the question was rather timely, as I had recent purchased a new notebook from System76.com that happens to run Ubuntu 8.04 64bit by default.
As you will see from this video below, not only does Java and Adobe Flash work, they work great.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/amAGbFZEV1s" width="325" height="250" wmode="transparent" /]
To recap however, there are a few things to be aware of:
- The easiest way to get Flash working is to browse to a website that requires it. When prompted, install Adobe Flash. As far as getting PulseAudio working with Flash, do yourself a favor and install padevchooser. Then set it to autostart from Sessions. You might also want to make sure you have pavucontrol installed as well.
- Java IceTea was provided on my system, but I wanted needed Java JRE for my WeatherBug Linux application. So I made sure that my Multiverse repository was enabled from software sources BEFORE trying to install the WeatherBug application. This ensured that I would have the app working without any issues at all. This way there was no need to do any manual installation of Java whatsoever.
About the WeatherBug application:
Tested a while back here as the then beta app, Tempest, WeatherBug for Linux has proven to be a stellar weather application for those looking for more control over their weather application on this platform. Most significant difference with WB vs other Linux apps:
- You pick from a number of local weather stations instead of having one thrust upon you based on your zip code.
- Friendly to use with your proxy server, manually setup the data update frequency and even change layout the UI to best meet your needs.
- Only auto-starts when you choose to make it do so.