Adobe to open-source Flash tool Flex
Adobe Systems announced that will open-source Flex. This will start with the release of a beta of the next version of Flex, code-named Moxie, in June.
The company is going to open-source the Flex software development kit. This includes a compiler and libraries designed to speed up development.
The company added that it chose to create an open-source project for the Flex software to garner good ideas and contributions from developers outside Adobe, said Jeff Whatcott, vice president for product marketing at Adobe's enterprise and developer business unit.
The move follows Adobe's donation last November of its ActionScript virtual machine to the Mozilla Foundation, the makers of the open-source Firefox browser.
Offering free or open-source development tools has become nearly de rigueur for software vendors. Like many companies, Adobe intends to make money via associated software, like higher-end tools and server software.
Adobe will also release the final version of Moxie, which will be called Flex 3, near the end of the year, it expects to have a fully functioning open-source project, company executives said Tuesday. Adobe intends to use the Mozilla Public License.
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