Framelynx

Wow! That actually worked great! Thanks so much for that advice!

I was very excited about Affinity 2. I welcome the changes. I love the new features. I am eager to support Affinity HOWEVER, when I used Affinity Photo to draw and it lagged sooooooo much (on Windows 11), every pen stroke, took a second delay to start drawing. I tried restarting many times without opening anything else. Then I HAD TO REINSTALL Affinity 1 - Photo. The side by side comparison was STARK - chalk and cheese (Affinity 1 on the left, Affinity 2 on the right). Same dimensions and same brush size. Affinity1 Photo can paint a lot more efficiently and quickly, almost instantly. Affinity2 Photo lagged, and couldn't keep up. It's shocking. Affinity Publisher 2 also has noticeably drained my battery a lot quicker. The usual readings previously were 25-28% battery drain. But now it jumped to 45%. The fans work harder when I have Affinity 2 on now. I notice files aren't backwards compatible. So I have to be careful. It would be great if it could, especially when new features weren't used. I'm really hoping that optimisations are underway quickly. (My laptop is a brand new Lenovo 2 Yogo 9i 2022. Running Windows 11 (Top specs) - A premium range 2 in 1 laptop. Received in October.) I regretfully have to downgrade to Affinity 1 Photo to get the performance I want. (as great as the new features are).

Guys... you know what... I just realized that the Affinity Suite doesn't have Non-Destructive Envelope Warp.... ENVELOPE WARP!!!! BASIC!!!!!! They've been asking for it since 2015, and they said it was on the road map, but they haven't implemented it... And many people have been asking and waiting for it. This makes me realise... if they haven't even included this very basic essential feature... TO HELL with a "Linux" version. I threw in the towel... I just had to install Affinity on a Windows.... It was a sad day... but in some ways... inevitable... If they so happen to release a Linux Version... I'll be there... but I'm not holding my breathe for it anymore....

@wonderings@Pufty Yeah, I agree with you. I'm not saying there's great design talent in copying the Mac & Windows themes. There really is other original UI designs out there that are better and get out of the user's way. (I just picked the most recent example which probably isn't the best) - Also it's hard to capture how an OS feels to use simply with screenshots. Ubuntu / PopOS (The og OS. One of the most supported and customizable OS's with its extensions and tweaks. I didn't warm up to it at the beginning coming from MacOS but it's grown on me.) InstantOS (focusing on snappy keyboard driven interface for power users) HaikuOS (A little retro, kinda cute, looks and functions different to most) FerenOS (Feels quite nice, modern, yet familar, quite smooth and functional) TinyCoreOS (Probably the smallest modern GUI OS) There's this other weird one that's the most original OS ever but the worst to use! LOL. But it was amazingly light and fast for a graphic intensive OS. The only thing it had going. Pling OS Themes has 51,078 UI themes there! Some are copies, some are very different and experimental. Some are really cool. There's tonnes more of course. And I'm not just talking about the tool bar, dock, file manager. I'm guessing most people on a thread about linux is a linux user and has probably distro-hopped right? Also saying that apart from the cool alternatives, which might scare aware new users to gnu/linux, there is the Mac/Win clones to ease people in. And making the point that g'linux is so damn customizable, it's like a UI buffet! ..... Sorry, were we supposed to be talking about Affinity on Linux? What more can be said?

The amount of gorgeous looking OS's coming out of the Linux world is astounding and increasing. There's no lack of design talent and vision there. It's so customizable. You can get a Mac or Windows UI clone if you wanted to or do something completely innovative. It's so awesome. And yeah, I use Pop OS. It's awesome. Started with a Mac theme, now I figured the dock is annoying and got rid of it. Wish Affinity was on it. I'd buy it in a second (full price).

Ahh right you are. I wonder how much a port of Affinity would cost? I'm sure it would still be cheaper than actual dedicated development for linux, which would be in the millions.

The most reliable and cheapest way for Affinity to work on Linux, is if Affinity crowd funded $9000 to "Port Jump" for "Crossover". It's about the cost of: 2x Adobe Full Premium Studio licenses (back in the day). OR 1x Spec'd out Macbook with the Full Adobe Premium Suite. OR 40x Affinity Licenses for Photo+Designer+Publisher. https://www.codeweavers.com/portjump#portjump-packages But this might be asking a bit too much... where are we going to get 40+ interested buyers? Sorry... 39?

I know right? Just a anecdote: My mac is getting battery change right now. (3 days wait). Using my Linux Ryzen 9 3900x. Had to use Affinity on my Windows Virtual Machine, And a bit of Scribus. What a pain. Luckily it was small stuff. Interesting tidbit: Codeweavers have updated their branding https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover I even bought a the Affinity Suite (windows version) just to try a port, a wine, a virtual machine.... actually cheaper than subscribing to Adobe for 4 months. They should start a crowdfund for PortJump $9000(x1-3) - https://www.codeweavers.com/portjump Imagine. Raise $9000(x1-3) to get The Affinity Suite working on Linux. Maybe much less since the suite share the same engine. Of course we understand business risk. Crowdfunding helps reduce that risk. Heck, I'll buy other Affinity products to help support them. Been enjoying all my windows games on Steam Play... wishing I can also enjoy windows Affinity on Steam too! Maybe Affinity need to put their software on Steam! 😂 I laugh... but is it actually possible? The whole M1 Mac line up seems exciting and all but I'm done with Mac.

Never heard of Gravit, looks pretty good! Thanks for the recommendation! Strange that it's proprietary AND free.

There's Virtual Box on Linux. I have a 12 Core Ryzen 9. RTX 2070. And Running virtual box with GPU fully utilized, it works rather smooth and snappy at first.... IF the composition on Affinity is simple. But for the bigger slightly more complex compositions with many layers, it really chokes. This Youtuber says VMware Player is faster than Virtual Box. Agreed on the development costs. As I've mentioned. They should try porting it with CrossOver which only costs $9000. Like seriously... 50 users buying all 3 would cover that.

Hey... here's a crazy idea... Affinity should just release their app on Steam and let "Steam Play" and proton or whatever make it compatible for all systems. I used to have all these WINDOWS ONLY games ALL suddenly work on Linux The Affinity developers simply don't want to support Linux. I'm guessing that doing so would bump up their tech support/maintenance expenses. Which means the one off cheap $70-$100 fee won't be enough cover technical support. Otherwise they'd have to do subscription like Adobe, which means pissing off their entire fan base and losing everyone's trust. Whenever iOS/Mac/Windows updates its OS, it causes all their developers to spend time updating their software to make it compatible. Mac seems to be be quite infamous for updating frequently, and perhaps costing Affinity in tech support. And Apple is where all the "creatives" are. I'm an atypical creative that wants to leave Apple and go to Linux because Apple has become a bit 1984. I'm using a Linux laptop that's 2x more powerful CPU&GPU than Apple's best. And $3K cheaper! WTF!? Linux OS updates are so much slower and stable. I'm guessing the tech support for Linux would be far less than Linux. But not many veteran creatives are on Linux or would want to switch to Linux. Even I'm finding it tough to transition. Which is why the most financially feasible option would be Wine/Crossover at https://www.codeweavers.com/porting Porting costs $9000 vs $0.5-1 million in Native Development. So to get Linux on Affinity, one would just need to buy a windows version. (Which I've bought on special incase. Using Virtual Machine for now.) https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/search?name=affinity Currently compatibility rating for Affinity is 1/5. Once enough creatives feel like they can switch to Linux, then maybe Affinity might consider making it native. DEAR AFFINITY... Would you at least consider porting it for $9000? Can we crowd fun $9000? 30-50 customers buying all 3 Affinity Programs would cover that!! PLEEEEESE?

Has Affinity tried to get crowdfunding for Linux development before? I would happily contribute! I read somewhere that you guys need $500,000 or so to break even? That means if only appx.2000 users buy all 3 Affinity programs. I'll buy 2x for my worker so now you only need 1998! =D Some Linux distros/flavours are just so much quicker and agile than Mac and Windows, and so much more stable! Mac has been getting more and more unstable recently even when freshly bought!

I would be paying $300/month actually. can I afford it yes (rather save it for mortgage/rent etc). Can I make make business profitable without it? Yes Thanks to Affinity. And a tiny bit of Adobe CS5. "Adobe falling apart" meaning: The Adobe programs starts to work less and less well with every upgrade of MacOS. Uninstalling completely and reinstalling doesnt help. Photoshop crashes automatically after opening new file. And quitting normally generates a crash error. Nothing wrong with Adobe software per se. The MacOS upgrades is what screw things up. And it happens so frequently that things become obsolete faster. Sometimes new OS upgrades are necessary for security or additional features but they make more things incompatible. I know Adobe programs work well. With that much money poured into it compared to affinity, I'm sure it helped. But I'm actually doing well without Adobe. If I can do the same thing without paying more, why not? Now I want to get away from Apple too (fine software / hardware though it is)

BTW why can't Affinity do a kickstarter campaign? Wouldn't that prove once and for all if you have enough supporters for it? Or has that already happened and failed? I would totally back it! take my money! PLEASE!

I’m a 15yr senior graphic designer / art director (been using adobe on mac for 20 years) - I don't speak for all creatives... I REALLY WANT TO MOVE TO UBUNTU STUDIO but can't yet.. coz Affinity's not there! I despise Adobe for introducing subscription. I despise Apple for forcing machines and programs into obsolescence with their ”free upgrades” they nag you without option to permanently silence. Software that once worked stopped because they can’t afford to keep upgrading their product to fit Apple’s new release and apple does jack all to support good software. Tim Cook prioritizes profits at the expense of quality and value. Adobe's the same. I reached a point where if I upgrade macOS, Adobe suite (The last non Subscription version) will stop working permanently, but if I don’t the Affinity publisher won’t work! Luckily Affinity fixed that issue without needing to upgrade macOS. The Adobe suite is falling apart. And I’m using the Affinity suite now. That was the last straw. I get that Affinity need to be careful where they invest development. If Affinity lose, then we all lose. Apart from limited collaborative potential, scribus is quite awful to work with. Gimp and Inkscape are ok. And I’ve reconfigured them to behave as close to the Affinity/Adobe suite as possible and I know how to use them well. But they’re still lacking (mainly scribus). I’ve already asked my team to adopt Affinity on Mac and that was tough, I don’t think I can push them to adopt the Open Creative Suite. It’s largely that open Source files are quite incompatible with adobe, and affinity files. I wish those open source developers would just get their head out of their asses and make their software a bit like Adobe but better, like how Affinity does it. But noooo, they’re trying to be special. but i understand why they can't do things like make Scribus open adobe's IDML files, but Affinity can. I would pay for the whole Linux Affinity suite in a heartbeat if it was available on Linux. it would mean that I can finally leave Apple and Windows for good. I would even pay quadruple if it’ll help Affinity! (Still cheaper than adobe!) Coz I trust that Linux and Affinity won’t pull dirty tactics like subscription and obsolescence and that the software will last. Affinity is waiting for graphic designers to jump onto linux before developing for Linux. I'm waiting for Affinity to develop for Linux SO THAT I can jump on Linux. *sigh* Chicken or the egg?