Those were dark times. Linux was very handicapped as a result at the time because many websites would feature some Flash content and you needed to install Macromedia’s Flash Player but I remember at some time they stopped doing Linux builds and you had to make do with an outdated version that’s full of vulnerabilities. We also had an opensource alternative called Gnash but it was a nightmare to make it work.
HTML5 is probably the invention that advanced the internet the most as thanks to it we don’t have to deal with that bullshit anymore.