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What is Open Source Media Framework (OSMF)?
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Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) is an open software framework for building robust, feature-rich video players and applications based on the Adobe® Flash® Platform.
OSMF reduces the complexity of player development, allowing the developer more time to focus on the overall user experience. OSMF’s flexible architecture allows the developer to easily customize their player for the browser, incorporating plug-ins for advertising, reporting, and content delivery along with standard player features such as play/pause, seek, volume/mute, download progress, buffering, and bitrate switching. |
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How much does OSMF cost?
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OSMF is open source, and free. There is no cost associated with downloading the code or components. |
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Are Adobe Flash Platform partners committed to working with OSMF?
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Yes, we have many partners who have signed the plug-in agreement, indicating that they are actively developing a plug-in for OSMF. These partners include CDNs, advertising, analytics, and platform providers. For more details on where to obtain a plug-in from a specific partner, see the plug-in partner table here.
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Do I have to use Adobe products to use OSMF?
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OSMF is entirely based on ActionScript® 3.0. You can develop OSMF media players using third-party tools for ActionScript development. |
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Why did Adobe create OSMF?
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Adobe believes that open standards and best practices are necessary to facilitate the development for video player applications that reduces the cost and complexity of player development. With OSMF, developers and publishers can focus on the overall user experience of video on their sites, and spend less time on redundant coding and API integration in building their media players. |
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Under which open source license is OSMF offered?
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MPL Version 1.1 will govern the use of the OSMF code. This license is used by many open source projects that need to balance the needs of the open source community and commercial software vendors. MPL and its derivatives (Eclipse Public License and Common Public License) are used by many well-known open source projects, including the Flex® SDK, with both thriving open source communities and significant commercial users. |
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Do organizations and developers that build applications with OSMF need to release their projects as open source?
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In most cases, you are free to develop applications based on OSMF without having to release your code as open source. You can distribute commercial applications built on OSMF provided you don’t modify the OSMF framework code. In most cases, you will not need to modify the framework itself to build custom applications because OSMF is componentized and extensible. You are, however, required to release any source code modifications made to the ActionScript source files provided as part of the OSMF framework. These modifications must be released under the MPL. This obligation does not extend to other files created by you, even if they are combined into a single executable or bytecode file. For a complete explanation of your rights and obligations under the MPL, you should consult a legal professional. If the MPL does not meet your business needs, you can contact Adobe to discuss a custom license. |
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How does this framework benefit participants in other open source projects?
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Under the terms of the MPL, open source project owners can use OSMF to develop parts of their applications, extend OSMF, and contribute to the community, or incorporate some or all of the components themselves into their projects, provided they continue to comply with the license terms of the MPL. |
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Can I redistribute the OSMF source code myself?
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Yes, you are allowed to redistribute the OSMF source code, provided you do so under the terms of the MPL. |
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How often will OSMF components be updated?
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Development of OSMF is ongoing. Each month, we will make code contributions to the community. |
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How can I get involved in the future direction for OSMF?
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Flash and Flex developers and community members can get involved in a number of ways:
- Start using the OSMF today. You can help identify issues and their specific causes, logging bugs through the OSMF bug management system.
- Support the community by answering questions on the various OSMF forums, submitting plug-ins, and blogging.
- Start an external and complementary OSMF open source project. There are lots of plug-ins that would be a huge help to the OSMF community. Start these externally today, and they might be candidates for inclusion in the framework in the future.
- Contribute bug fixes to the OSMF. Review and comment on specifications published by the OSMF team during development of future OSMF releases.
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