Bez Bezson

@thedrumdoctor
Surprised you haven't been more involved with Linux as you are in IT support, at least for servers in LANs. But then, outside the IT sector itself, most users can only work in Windows and with MS office/productivity apps so it's no wonder in that sense.
The last straw in my own departure from Windows wasn't the bloatware and the spontaneous reinstallations of Skype.
It was the simple fact that Redis database - which only runs on Linux - was something I had to have for fast authorization in a web app.
I have had no trouble getting all the main IDEs to run on Ubuntu plus 99% of the main apps for audio, video, images (GIMP, Inkscape), document production, conferencing, web development, etc. And the much smaller usage of SSD space was such a welcome boon.
I was a bit lucky in that I had a Radeon GPU and free Mesa drivers were readily available. I hear it's not always such plain sailing with Nvidia and these users sometimes struggle with the functionality of their GPU.
Like you, I wonder how long it can be before the critical mass of Linux adoption we see happening in China will occur in the western hemisphere. The forced changes to working and education over last year or two may be the catalyst for this change. So many more people with much less money must get online for their work. Ubuntu offshoot distros like Pop, Zorin, Elementary and Neon are now very attractively skinned out to appeal to adults looking for an intuitive user experience. These distros will also attract junior users who want to spend their money on better CPUs or GPUs than on Windows/OS or Microsoft Office. IT savvy parents will be anxious to save cash by using the many free packages available on Linux for media and other pastimes.
Affinity is a package made by a commercial operation. It's taken them decades to get to where they are now. Fair dues to them for their achievement.
But Inkscape is an open source project which will inevitably consider the attractive functionalities of Affinity, Adobe Illustrator and other innovative packages.
 

I tried to ignore Linux by trying Mac. Nice walled garden, but too restrictive, so I went back to Windows.
Then I got rid of Adobe and went to Affinity because their products work on both iPad and Windows.
Now I have just thrown Linux Peppermint on a 2009 laptop with 8Gb of RAM in it which wouldn't upgrade to Windows 10. I love it and can't wait to show another disc in my desktop and put Linux on modern hardware.
I've been working in IT support for over 20 years now and my gut feeling is, Linux is going to become a serious player in productivity applications. I am now looking for commercial software which will run on distros and sure enough, they're out there.
As a consumer who is prepared to spend money on software I really want to use, Affinity really need to rethink their stance on Linux and join the revolution.

I use Linux every day as a programmer and web designer. I have already bought all Affinity products, but unfortunately I have to boot the Windows partition in order to be able to use them. So far I have failed with wine, I could still install vmware or virtualbox, but that is somehow not very satisfactory. In short, I'm already a paying customer and I use Linux 99% of the time. I would be very happy if Affinity products would run on Linux.

But Windows 10 is such a pain! Upgrades that destabilise the parts that used to work smoothly. Lots of time wasted trying to get back to how those things worked. Time that would have been better spent on the other 1001 things that need doing. I'm seriously considering leaving Windows.

@wonderings, I think this speaks to my point about how hard it is to buck the trend.  It's an industry that is saturated by Adobe, so if one wants to exist within that industry, then it's likely, if not often necessary that they go with the flow.
Fortunately for Serif, some have bucked the trend.  That we're here as a community of Affinity users, might be considered some degree of evidence that people are dissatisfied with big tech.
 
If VirtualBox gets GPU pass-through support, I expect that'd make a huge difference.  As it is, Affinity Photo is forced into software mode which is throwing away a significant portion of my systems potential.  I don't believe that's a Linux limitation.  If you ran VirtualBox on OSX, presumably it'd be the same issue.  VMWare Workstation Player may be an option I look into though as it at least appears to have better GPU support.

Even there, l think that credible alternatives now exist on Linux even if it means getting used to a comparable workflow. Examples include, but are not limited to, PhotoLine+Wine, Inkscape and VivaDesigner. In my case, l use Pixeluvo which is an excellent slot in replacement for Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Responses to this reasoning have already been given, by myself and others.  Speaking from personal experience here, but echoing what's been said by others also, I would have switched to Linux/BSD long ago if Adobe had supported it.  Adobe Premiere was becoming such a mess though, I transitioned to Davinci Resolve, which opened the door to Linux.
 
Perhaps a lot has happened in 20 years, but Linux desktop really lacks very little.  If we put Adobe to the side for a moment, I'm hard pressed to think of an industry level application that doesn't have an answer on Linux.  Where that becomes unstuck, is an answer to some of the Adobe Suite, namely Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
 
I suspect you're correct in saying a good amount of Linux users won't use closed source software.  I also suspect those users have little to no interest in the Adobe Suite or Serif products too, so no market to be lost or gained for Serif amongst that lot.  Identifying a group of people who have no interest in Serif or Adobe products, does not prove no one is interested in an answer to the Adobe Suite, or Serif products under Linux though.

I'd buy all three of your products at $100 each.
I use Affinity, Davinci Resolve and PHPStorm almost exclusively.  Davinci and PHPStorm on Ubuntu.
Affinity products are the only thing keeping a windows machine here.

Agreed on all counts. Adobe is prohibitively expensive for hobbyists, prosumers, and people looking to make a little side income. Average, non-tech people are becoming increasingly disenchanted with expensive products published by big tech companies. I decided to buy the Affinity suite for PC (haven't decided if I also need the Mac version since I use both platforms) because it seems like the first viable alternative to the Adobe ecosystem.
If I'm not mistaken, the UI uses Qt, so I am a little curious as to what components would have to be completely re-engineered.

Bachu raises a really valid point here.  Looking at current market share is only part of the picture.  If it weren't for Adobe only supporting OSX/Windows and Adobe being such an integral part of my workflow, I would have been on Linux a long time ago.

The balance is shifting though.  People are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with big tech and they're looking for alternatives.  It's precisely the reason people jump to Affinity.  It's not an easy thing to buck the trend in a market so completely dominated by Adobe, but users of Affinity products are doing just that.
My workstation is Linux (Arch/Endeavour OS).  I have been able to migrate my creative and development workflow to this system, through a process of gradually exchanging the Adobe products I require with alternatives under Windows, such as Davinci Resolve, then finally making the OS transition to Linux.
The only thing yet accounted for is Affinity Photo.  It's the only reason I have VirtualBox installed running Windows.  Performance is not ideal and it doesn't detect my video card so there's no GPU acceleration.  Affinity Photo is officially on my seeking a Linux capable alternative list.


 

Just going to throw this out there - apps that are published through Steam can make use of Valve's own Proton layer, which makes it possible to access DirectX and other APIs that are otherwise unavailable in WINE. It's kind of like how GOG figured out how to package DOSBox with old computer games, preconfigured to work with each specific game. AFAIK Valve does work directly with publishers whose software is popular enough for them to invest their resources in the compatibility layer.
My husband tried running Publisher last night in WINE on Arch Linux, including running it through Proton, and ran into a failure from one of Affinity's internal libraries. Obviously there's more to making an application work through Proton (or WINE), but releasing through Steam might be a route for both Linux compatibility (which it doesn't sound like the company cares too much about, after skimming this thread), and expanding Affinity's market reach (which maybe they do care about) through publishing and advertising on Steam.
There are a lot of video game tools on Steam, and I think Affinity's apps would appeal to a lot of video game designers and artists out there who spend their time and money on the Steam store.

Is there any hope for a linux version in 2021-2022?
I use Linux (Fedora) for work, but have to switch to windows when ever i need to use one of the Affinity programs.
I program web pages and web apps, so when ever i get a new design i have to boot windows to cut out the elements and then boot linux again to program.
(Attached an image of my dog for no reason)

...anything. And imagine small companies that would buy maybe twice the computers to achieve this...

That said, the most efficient workflow might be achieved by using the same machine for processing and editing. A positive start along that route might be, for example, looking into how Affinity Photo could possibly work well and CrossOver/Wine and I hope that at some stage a constructive dialogue between the sets of developers concerned can be developed.

I wish I had some pots and pans to bang together here. I'd be all like *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* LINUX! LINNNUUUUUUUUXXXXX! *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* *DANK* *DANK*
...and then I'd get my way.

Would really appreciate a Linux port. The image below was my first piece composited with Affinity and was quite proud of the results. The raster/vector interoperability was such a huge workflow improvement. But I got tired of Windows and switched up to Linux (Elementary OS) and haven't turned back. After that my works were then composited with GIMP but with severe limitations. Adjustment layers are still not implemented in GIMP, so editing is destructive for the most part. Using GIMP/Inkscape isn't always perfect but I'm doing what I can.

Any vfx professionals in here? Most studios use linux and there is a massive hole in the market for a image editing software that supports ocio/32bit editing/exr support. I just cant wrap my mind around how this can be brushed off as a insignificant portion of the market. At the moment we have to juggle nuke licenses which are around 3000-8000 usd per year per seat just to make quick adjustments to hdris or whatever.  Which is insane in crunch time when most of the licenses are legitimately needed to finish shots. 

Then what could happen under those circumstances is such studios banding together and agreeing to fund full time Linux developers at Serif Europe to produce Linux ports of the wanted Affinity softwares that can then be sold back to the studios and a wider audience including the rest of us Linux users here. In the event that such a funding offer is declined, the funding and developers could then be directed at Gimp, etc to bring it up to the same professional standard of Affinity Photo, Paintshop Pro, Photoshop. etc.

@wonderings, @Redsandro explained so well, although,  my story is a bit different. Regardless I may have all these available on Windows lately, Winmdows simply makes my life hard with a lot of blotware and processing not in my interest, but for their metering. So, can't really go back while I have so flexible OS available now.
 

Also would like to see Linux version of Designer.
Ewen if it will require additional license.
Moving from Windows to Kubuntu.
Linux user base and popularity grows.
There is a lot of games available, more and more software, even M$ Edge will come soon (vscode already there).
Who will be first will take all profit.
Other way and trend as well - web applications. For example Figma.
It uses web assembly (C++ code) directly in browser (which already supports GPU acceleration).

Well,
we do not ask for a full native linux version, but some kind cooperation with WINE/codeweavers folks to help making affinity work under wine.
This would be a much lower ressource investment than building a full blown linux version, i'd expect?
as a dev studio, our machines run ubuntu and we need decent graphic software

I have Affinity Photo and Designer licences for OSX.
And Photo, Designer and Publisher for Win.
But I have to switch to Linux, probably Manjaro.
It will be cool to find my app on Linux even if I have to pay one more time for that.

Though stats say one thing, there are people such as me, than can't move from OS because we don't have the apps we need.
I've been using OSX for the last 12 years. First with a mac, and 6 years ago I added a hackintosh. Why? Price
Why do I keep using OSX > I'm used to it, it's shortcuts, functions, etc., but I dislike new versions and it has been a tendency through out the latest versions.
I would love to switch and start using Ubuntu as my daily OS, but I can't. Im a web developer and graphic designer. I use Adobe illustrator almost every day. 
Adobe isn't aiming to work for Linux, and I'm searching for options. If Affinity suite was available with Linux, I would have changed inmediately to it... 
During 18 years working in design, I never meet anyone using Affinity. Adobe or Corel are the common options. 
I think decisions are made according to the stats you see, but are not keeping in mind that they could become THE OPTION in linux.

Now we are in the top 10 of WineHQ! (at 8!)
https://appdb.winehq.org/votestats.php
Please continue voting here after registration, and don't forget to mark the 3 checkboxes when submitting your vote!
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=39311
And continue asking your friends to vote!
Thank you all!

^ I second that and I can't help noticing that two more full sets of votes will put Affinity Photo in 7th position.