Since it seems like I’m the only one who didn’t participate in a raging debate on a list or forum, or blog about this, I shall do so now.
For all the hype and outrage, I think this is not such a big deal. The funniest thing for me is that this has probably been going on for some time now, and I bet most of you, the foremost Flash developers in the world, never noticed until you saw a thread about it.
Why is that? Because the player you get when you buy Flash does not have Yahoo in it. The player you get when you automatically upgrade your player does not have Yahoo in it. The player you get when you go to Macromedia’s download site using Mozilla or Firefox, etc. does not have Yahoo on it. The only time you are going to encounter it is when you go to the Macromedia site using IE/Windows.
Secondly, if you do wind up there, it’s not like it’s being snuck in there on you. It’s pretty bold and obvious before you even click the link.
Third, and most important, and I bet most of the screamers don’t realize this, is that you get to choose whether to download Flash Player with or without Yahoo. It’s not like you download it and then it asks you if you want to install. You choose before downloading. There are two radio buttons – with or without. You don’t want Yahoo, you don’t get it. If you get it, you chose to get it. It’s a pretty blatant choice.
Now, whether or not this should be occuring at all is another story. But I think it hardly warrants the mass outrage that’s going around the net this week.