I have been always a profound believer of open sourcing software for expanding the boundaries of progressive development. The examples of open source success is all around us, Java, MySQL, Linux, Firefox, Thunderbird, WordPress, Drupal is just a name a few. Looks like Adobe got the idea of open source advantage. Adobe just today unveiled a new version of its Flex SDK development tool set, code-named Moxie, along with plans to provide its code to the open-source community.

Flex is a tool to build rich Internet applications — Web applications that include the rich features of desktop applications but the ease of maintenance of a Web application. The free Adobe Flex SDK includes the technologies developers need to build effective Flex applications, including the MXMLâ„¢ compiler and the ActionScriptâ„¢ 3.0 libraries that make up the popular Flex framework. Here are some demonstrations of Flex’s creation-

(Click to enlarge the thumbnails)

The next version of the standards-based language and programming model, initially scheduled to ship by the end of the year, will be available under the Mozilla Public License (MPL) now used by the Mozilla Foundation and by Sun Microsystems Inc. for its Open Solaris operating system. MPL requires that change made to the code be kept under the MPL license, and those who every time perform the changes cannot freely distribute the altered code.

I would say a smart move by Adobe by making Flex available under MPL. Flex is one of the key products of Adobe, which has graciously reached a critical mass of people. Now by transferring it into an open-source project, they can really expend the community and get the developers more involved in extending Flex’s potentials.

You can download the free Flex 2 SDK, including the Flex framework from adobe website. You might also like to check these out for getting a head start with Flex SDK-

• Flex Documentation
• Flex Community
• Free trial version of Flex Builder 2

Adobe will be setting up a Web site (in June) where daily builds for the next version of Flex SDK will be posted, he added. The site will definitely contain a public bug database (Bugzilla) for users to enter bug reports or other enhancement requests. Flex SDK and other Flex products will still be available under commercial licenses.