Extreme Networks misses death-of-Flash deadline, suggests winding back PC clocks to keep its GUI alive
- Reference: 1610432953
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/01/12/extreme_networks_misses_flash_eol_deadline/
- Source link:
“Due to a last minute change in 3rd party licensing we have been tasked to update WiNG Manager to meet new enforcements related to Flash,” says an Extreme Networks [1]support article updated on January 12, 2021.
[2]
“In the interim WiNG-Man will be unavailable unless the date of the PC is set before Jan 12, 2021.”
The date is significant because, as The Register today [3]reported earlier today, it is the day on which support for Adobe Flash ends. Users accessing Flash content are now shown a Death Notice rather than whatever interactive content they sought.
Cisco penta-gone from Pentagon as Aruba rolls in a new net [4]READ MORE
Which is a bit of a problem if you need to manage a network. And a bit of a colossal fail by Extreme Networks, given that Adobe announced end of support for Flash in July 2017.
“It's worrying having to support customer's critical WiFi networks without having access to the management program,” said an Extreme Networks user of The Register ’s acquaintance. “I would have expected the replacement application to have been ready before Flash support ended.”
Extreme Networks suggests using the command line interface, or the free tier of Extreme Cloud IQ in the interim. Another suggestion is setting a PC’s clock to before January 12 in the hope that it does not trip Adobe’s end-of-life logic bomb. The Register imagines that tactic will work best if the PC is not connected to the internet, to avoid automatic updates.
[5]
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” says Extreme’s support article. ®
Get our [6]Tech Resources
[1] https://extremeportal.force.com/ExtrArticleDetail?an=000085391
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_datacentre/networks&sz=300x250%7C300x252%7C300x600&tile=3&c=33X-2BRwDhNs8fbRG8I5wsuwAAAMA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/12/flash_is_dead/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/28/aruba_pentagon_win_vs_cisco/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_datacentre/networks&sz=300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251&tile=4&c=44X-2BRwDhNs8fbRG8I5wsuwAAAMA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Wow...
Indeed. Fiddle with the clock to manage your network ?
I have another suggestion : get a proper network management tool.
Surely not
If one really wants to futz with the date so that a broken software application will continue to work (for some definition of "work" anyway), simply changing the system clock and/or hardware RTC is definitely not the best approach. Two alternatives: (a) run the broken application in a VM so that the incorrect time is visible only to software running in the guest; or (b) use a filter library that intercepts calls to gettimeofday(3c) via LD_PRELOAD when running the broken application, which will allow you to force the application to see whatever time you want it to but will not affect other processes. Of course, if you're using Flash at all, I sure hope you're already running it in a VM, preferably one you use for nothing else and destroy immediately after each use.
Inexcusable foot-dragging by application vendors aside, Adobe are putting on a masterclass in how not to manage obsolescence. Drop support? Great. No new releases? Certainly. Documenting the end-of-life process and the reasons for it? Yes, of course. Alerting users for several years whenever they download the software? Excellent. Prohibiting new downloads after the end of life date? That's only to be expected. Logic bomb that suddenly makes working locally-installed software stop working? Uhhh... no. If you really insist on the date-driven logic bomb approach, you should limit it to nagware ("If you wish to continue, type 'I agree to contact the supplier of this application and inform them that they need to stop using Flash' and press Enter; otherwise, click Exit to abort"). This is really the worst of all worlds, because it doesn't make the people who need these applications stop needing them. So they'll change their clocks, wreak havoc on everything else, and create a giant shitstorm for their own support staff (instead of the people at Extreme or Adobe, who deserve it). Way to go, Adobe. Just when we thought Flash couldn't create any more misery, you found a way!
Re: Surely not
The worst of all worlds would actually be if they hadn't done all that other stuff.
Extreme Networks: we make management of networks extreme.
I was surprised by how late some companies left switching their systems away from Flash considering how much notice there had been about the death of Flash.
I'm not at all surprised
The developers will have been sending regular reminders to the project management, who will have been completely ignoring it until too late.
I see this kind of thing all the time.
Sometimes it's just because the PM has taken on too many projects and just can't cope. Sometimes it's because they don't want to consider the consequences of their decisions, other times it's because they expect to have moved onto another project or even employer before the go-dead-date and thus their successor will be the one to pick up the pieces.
Sadly, PMs have a longstanding habit of ignoring technical debt until the cost is astronomical.
Re: I'm not at all surprised
"The developers will have been sending regular reminders to the project management, who will have been completely ignoring it until too late."
Maybe they should have sent reminders to marketing instead, pointing out the reputational damage.
And if you have one of their older "end of life" products...
...you're SOL!
Despite the fact that many of these devices (for example switching hardware that was high-end at the time of purchase) is still perfectly serviceable.
At least the CLI is there still!
Wow...
...just wow.
And just a thought. "Turn back the clock" and when the DC automatically changes the pc's time back? Oh got it, don't connect the PC to the network.
Let me guess "We take our customers security....."