There is one thing that has been irking me for while about Flash (and Photoshop for that matter). Many people say that these things must be available for Linux and that it is a necessity for Linux to grow.
Are we forgetting one of the important things about GNU/Linux? It should be free as in Libre, yet we are clamoring to have closed source, proprietary software included. Yes, I realize Flash has become a defacto standard. The question is, should a proprietary, closed source format be an Internet standard in the first place?
About Photoshop... What about Gimp? I use Gimp just about every day in my work and I think it is great!

GIMP doesn't hold a candle to Photoshop for professional (printshop) use. It's
lacking basic attributes for printing such as proper CMYK support. For home use,
or minimal tasks, it is okay. It is NOT comparable to Photoshop, however. And
there are many features Photoshop has by default, for which GIMP users must
either write a script, or find a third party one.

GIMP has it's place, and is okay for that. But it's not a Photoshop replacement.

As for flash, isn't there enough junk on the web without flooding every
website with flash? Geez...

Make sure to check the GIMP plug-ins, they will add much needed functionality. I prefer using Inkscape for making images, and GIMP for editing or applying filters (even tho it could also be done with imagemagick). I suppose I'm a home user, so either way I have never had much use for the extra features of PS, so I don't use it.

For flash, you can try gnash:
http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/
I'm using it right now to test it out, and because I'm running slamd64 and I'd rather use a native 64-bit plugin instead of the nswrapped 32-bit flash plugin. It actually works surprisingly well, although the video quality need plenty of improvement, it's not that bad actually. Try it out if only just to test it, I have both installed and switch between them as needed.

There is a open source flash for linux in dev: f4l.sf.net .

Try Krita for graphics, I heard good things about it, but no idea how it compares to Photoshop.

Both Flash and Photoshop should work using Wine.

To me, the issue is that they are proprietary.
I believe internet sites should shy away from using proprietary formats.

The internet will always be designed for the masses. Why limit your capabilities?

Flash is mostly needed IMO for videos. That's all I need it for. I don't care about flashy websites, in fact I hate 'em. But I gota have flash for videos.

I mean, common... the internet is for porn! haha

seriously tho - why would big sites not use all the tools that are available. They will always program their sites with Window users in mind.

although, I don't disagree with you about the proprietary software. It's just too bad...