Linux, Flash 10, and saving Flash files

It used to be possible for Linux users to find and save the movie file from a Flash download with earlier versions of the Flash plug-in.  Flash put the file in the /tmp directory and if you were quick you  could copy it elsewhere.  If you had a plethora of Flash files, you could often find the one you wanted with a simple ls -lt /tmp/Flash* , which sorts the files in order from newest to oldest.

The latest version of Flash does something tricky, though.  It creates a temporary file to hold the Flash object, then, while keeping the handle to the file open, immediately deletes it.  This means that the Flash application can continue to access and use the file until you navigate away from it, but it no longer shows up in directory listings.

However, if you’re really Linux savvy, there are ways around even this little annoyance.

Looking for a Flash movie you’re looking at right now?  First, run this: lsof | grep Flash .  On my computer, the output was:

midori     9206  elf   57u      REG        8,3  10012691     64772 /tmp/FlashXXKoFQgx (deleted)

There’s that noxious little “(deleted)” flag, too.  But you have a hint.  First, your process id in 9206, and the file descriptor is 57.  Now, you can just cp /proc/9206/fd/57 /home/elf/movie.flv and there you go.  File copied.  At least, it’s worked for me the few times I’ve done it recently.

Lsof is a program that lets you identify all the open resources a running program is using. In this case, my running program is midori, a Gecko-using browser with a long history of trying to keep up. By identifying the resource, I can then wander down the /proc tree, getting at the process’s available resources directly. As a user, I’m free to access (and muck up) my own resources without risking anything or anyone else on the system– Linux is good about that.

This entry was automatically cross-posted from Elf's technical journal, ElfSternberg.com

What a bitter, bitter old man.

John McCain once pledged to overturn Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Then, facing a harsh election against a right-wing foe, he said he was not in favor of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but he would never overturn a working policy unless the Pentagon told him that doing so would not be harmful to troop recruitment or morale.

Over the weekend, there was much buzz over a leak from the Pentagon regarding the ongoing troop morale study, the one that asked such penetrating questions as, "If Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed and you are assigned to bathroom facilities with an open bay shower that someone you believe to be a gay or lesbian Service member also used, which are you most likely to do?"

The survey, painfully and obviously skewed to make the matter as contentious as possible, instead turned in a result that, for the most part, revealed that troop morale, retention, and enlistment would not be adversely affected.

McCain's response came this weekend when he said, "We need to look at whether it's the kind of study that we wanted."

Translation: It didn't say what I assumed it would say, therefore something is wrong with the study and not with me. And as a Congressman, I can order the Pentagon to do the study over and over again until it finally says what I want it to say.