SuperSatellite ||

By now, you might have heard of the new Adobe Integrated Runtime, otherwise known as AIR. AIR is aimed at allowing developers to create rich internet applications that are capable of running on a user’s desktop, regardless of operating system. Think Java, but geared more towards self contained web applications. It also results in comparatively superior looking applications. I mean come on, anyone else think Java is generally ugly?

The Adobe® AIR™ runtime enables you to have your favorite web applications with you all the time. Since applications built for Adobe AIR run on your desktop computer without a web browser, they provide all the convenience of a desktop application. Companies like eBay and AOL are using Adobe AIR to create exciting new applications that allow you to use their services on your desktop. In short, Adobe AIR means applications that are easier, more powerful, and more fun to use.

With AIR, you can slap some XHTML and Flash together, and create an application on it that can run independent of a browser. It’s finding wide adoption among crowds like Twitter users. Groups that are looking for applications to plug into a web site’s API (Application Program Interface). Check out Twhirl for an example, it’s what I use to keep up on Twitter. So, this is all super neat, right? Applications install with little more than a couple clicks, and can auto-update themselves to boot. Nice in Windows, but this could be invaluable in the Linux world. Can you guess why?

I run Ubuntu 8.04b on my laptop (I love installing 20 updates every day!). My desktop dual boots XP/Ubuntu (it swings both ways). I’m slowly transitioning to the geek side. But, I fall far short of calling myself a Linux guru (you may still refer to me as Sir, though). I can do anything in Windows, but in Linux…well…I’m like a sixteen year old boy on prom night. Actually, I’m getting much better than that, but for years the largest barrier to entry for me has been installing software. It has gotten easier with RPM’s, apt-get, and Ubuntu’s Add/Remove Applications interface, but if something isn’t listed you might find yourself jumping through a number of hurdles to get things going. And let’s be honest, how many “average” users could master the art of ./configure, make, and make install? Easy for a geek, hard for Grandma Jane (don’t hit me grandma!).

That’s where this whole AIR thing caught my attention. Turns out, Adobe has got an alpha version of AIR for Linux released. Keep in mind, it’s only for testing and not fully functional (like your mom), though I’ve only noticed a little graphical quirkiness so far. First off, the install is fairly painless (though must be done through the command line):

user@system:~$ wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/air/linux/adobeair_linux_a1_033108.bin
user@system:~$ chmod +x adobeair_linux_a1_033108.bin
user@system:~$ sudo ./adobeair_linux_a1_033108.bin

The installer pretty much does it’s own thing. From there, you can now find and open up an .air file for an application that you want to try out. Sizlopedia has got a nice list of 10 good AIR applications that you can start with. That’s where the whole gap bridging takes place. It’s almost like running your basic install.exe file. The browser will ask if you want to open it with Adobe’s handler (hint: you do), and it runs and installs like a Window’s app would for the most part. Painless. Simple. Easy (hint: also like your mom). And what makes it more perfect is that the process doesn’t differ between using Windows or Linux, so if you’re transitioning, it’d be completely familiar to you.

Which is why I ask the question: could this be part of the key to really mainstreaming Linux? It has always been my opinion that application installation has been the single largest barrier to entry Linux has faced in the general market. If this concept could be passed along to general application installation (like an RPM, only better), I think things would change rapidly. Naturally, that’s just my opinion. But it does make the OS and AIR based applications immediately useful, without any guessing, and that’s really what the install.exe-bred users need to smooth a transition to a new and foreign OS.