Ashutosh Sharma

Update: An updated tutorial, for AIR 1.5.1 SDK, has been posted at http://blogs.adobe.com/ashutosh/2009/03/flex_builder_linux_with_air_15.html

Some changes are required to get Flex Builder to use the new AIR Beta SDK for Linux. This is a step-by-step guide to get things up and running.

1. Ensure that you have Sun JRE >= 1.5 in your PATH (This can be verified with "java -version")

2. Install Eclipse (cpp or java) >= 3.3 to $HOME/eclipse
    - Download Eclipse 3.4 from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ (if you do not already have Eclipse >= 3.3)
    - cd ~
    - tar zxvf ./eclipse-cpp-ganymede-linux-gtk.tar.gz
    - This extracts eclipse under ~/eclipse

3. Install Flex Builder alpha 4 Eclipse plugin
    - Download the Flex Builder installer from http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flexbuilder_linux.html and launch it
    - chmod +x ~/flexbuilder_linux_install_a4_081408.bin
    - ~/flexbuilder_linux_install_a4_081408.bin
    - Choose $HOME/eclipse as the "Existing Eclipse Folder":

    - Choose "Proceed with caution" if prompted

4. Install Flex SDK 3.1
    - Download Flex SDK 3.1 from http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/flexsdk/Download+Flex+3
       - Choose Build 3.1.0.2710, Adobe Flex SDK dated Aug 15, 2008
    - Unzip it to a new folder ("3.1") under ~/Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux/sdks:
    - cd ~/Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux/sdks
    - mkdir 3.1
    - cd 3.1
    - unzip ~/flex_sdk_3.1.0.2710.zip

5. Install AIR Beta SDK under Flex SDK 3.1
    - Download Adobe AIR SDK from http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/air_linux.html to $HOME
    - Untar it to the folder created above
       - cd ~/Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux/sdks/3.1
       - tar jxvf ~/adobeair_linux_sdk_b1_091508.tbz2
    - Rename bin/adl to bin/adl_lin and bin/adt to bin/adt_lin (These are what Flex Builder expects)
       - cd bin
       - mv adl adl_lin
       - mv adt adt_lin

6. Set the newly installed SDK as default
    - Launch eclipse
       - ~/eclipse/eclipse
    - Window -> Preferences -> Flex -> Installed Flex SDKs
    - Click on Add
    - Select ~/Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux/sdks/3.1 as the "Flex SDK location". Click OK.

       - Choose "Flex 3.1" as the active SDK by selecting its checkbox. Click OK.

We're done!

To verify that the setup is correct:

1. Create a new AIR application
    - Create a new Flex Builder project (through File -> New)
    - Choose a project name, choose "Desktop application (runs in Adobe AIR)" as the application type. Click Finish.

2. Edit the new application's .mxml file
    - Change the line:
       <mx:WindowedApplication xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute">
       to
       <mx:WindowedApplication xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute" title="{NativeApplication.nativeApplication.runtimeVersion} - {NativeApplication.nativeApplication.runtimePatchLevel}">

3. Run the application (Ctrl-F11)

4. The application's window will show up. Check the title of the window. It should be "1 - 6590" (new AIR SDK) and not "1.0 - 20080320" (old AIR SDK) if everything was set up correctly.

The application can be packaged as a .air file through File -> Export -> Flex Builder -> Release Build.

Posted by Ashutosh Sharma at 8:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Although the list of supported distributions (Ubuntu 7.10, Fedora 8, OpenSuSE 10.3) is small compared to the total number of Linux distros out there, we expect AIR to run fine on a lot more of them.

It is not possible for us to exhaustively test all features on all distributions - we depend on you for this feedback. To ensure that AIR runs on as many distributions as possible, implementation of AIR features is based on standard specifications (such as the FreeDesktop specs). More and more distributions, window managers and desktop environments now adhere to these.

It would also be great to have feedback about other devices that run Linux, such as OLPC XO, EEE PC and Samsung Q1U.

System requirements are listed as part of the release notes.

We'd like to know if the latest release on labs works for your favorite distribution - please go ahead and post the result in a comment below.

Posted by Ashutosh Sharma at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We just released the beta version of Adobe AIR for Linux on Adobe Labs!

This Labs release of AIR has all features implemented for Linux, except support for DRM and badge installations. Major new features include support for system tray icons, keyboard shortcuts, localization, internationalized input (IME support), filetype registration, SWF and PDF in HTML, multi-monitor support, fullscreen mode, encrypted local storage, support for V4L2 cameras and printing.

The list of supported distributions has also been updated to:

1. Ubuntu 7.10
2. Fedora 8
3. OpenSuSE 10.3

Any AIR application that works on Windows/Mac AIR release version 1.1 should ideally work on Linux too, except if it uses DRM features. Let us know if you face any issues.

Release notes provide more details about system requirements, installation instructions and any known issues.

Go get some fresh AIR and let us know how it works out for you!

Posted by Ashutosh Sharma at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)