Frozen Death Knight

Sorry for the late reply. I am experiencing this kind of stuff: There is so much repeating text that comes and goes with no sign of stopping. Rebooted and redid all the previous steps a couple of times with no improvement.

I think one reason for that is that Reaper is just more popular on Windows as well, so that will naturally spill over into Linux. After trying both on Linux I vastly prefer Ardour in terms of looks and usability, but learning how to do a Git install took some time and I made a bunch of mistakes that luckily I got incredible support for on the Ardour forums. Plus, I found an excellent tutorial on how to set the source code up. Now after taking the time to write some scripts I have an incredibly easy time to update the software once updates come out. Besides some issues importing videos with audio it's been a very nice experience so far after trying it for a day.

I would also recommend Ardour for audio production, especially for those who are on Linux. You can compile it from Git and run the latest version completely for free on that OS only. There are also tons of plug-ins that are free on Linux like Calf and Linux Studio Plugins that are not supported in the Linux version of Davinci Resolve. Tinkered with it since yesterday and it's not that complicated to do after finding a video showing off how to install it and run it. Just from my short time using it it seems pretty powerful with a solid GUI that I honestly preferred over Reaper after testing it out for a bit. Plugins work there as well.

No, just the make command repeating the same lines of code in an infinite loop.

@Wanesty I've been followin the Git tutorial and I got stuck on "make -- jobs 4" where the compiling of Wine just keeps looping and not stopping. I'm using Linux Mint and installed it in my personal user folder btw. https://codeberg.org/wanesty/affinity-wine-docs#preamble

What signs are you referring to? The performance has improved, but Mac gaming has still lost significant popularity that is going to be hard to take back. Besides their iPad tech I have yet to see anything particularly impressive on the desktop side. Aha, got it. Though, there is code conversion for specific stuff where Proton adds additional code from compiling the software. It doesn't change the underlying code for the software, but wraps around it so it can be understood by Linux. Stuff inside specific Windows folders are being installed in the correct Linux equivalent folders because of that Proton code wrap. I guess I should have been more specific with what I meant by converting code. The Proton wrap is still telling the Windows programs where to install data and how to read the data. That's what I meant by it understanding the Linux infrastructure. If the software is a foreigner then Proton is the native translator that guides it through the unfamiliar land that is Linux.

Emulation is something completely different from using Wine/Proton. The former attempts to run a simulated environment where it makes the software believe it is run on the hardware/software it was originally designed for. Running something like Smash Bros Melee on Dolphin is done by making the game files think that it's being played on an actual Gamecube. Emulation is basically a closed garden where the software cannot see beyond what is inside that garden besides the emulator itself which needs to be designed for the OS to work at all. Wine/Proton converts certain code and wraps around the original code as a translator so it works natively on the platform it's being run on. For instance, Proton on Steam compiles shaders written in DirectX or OpenGL into Vulkan and even saves the compiled code to become just any other piece of data when downloading a game. It installs the software in a way that follows the Linux infrastructure where different folders contain their own types of data that would normally be stored like in AppData, Documents, Program Files, etc., etc. It takes the Windows code and makes it understand that it is in a Linux environment, thus making the software for all intents and purposes a Linux port. Wine/Proton automates stuff that would normally be done through actual coding. It is an incredibly smart piece of engineering that makes the life of coders a lot easier if they want to take advantage of the tech to make stuff Linux compatible. Heck, the idea behind this isn't even completely Linux exclusive. Lately there was news about a guy who had created something that converted Nintendo 64 code into Windows programs in C++. Those games have been emulated for years, but what made this news so special is that it meant that any Nintendo 64 game could run natively on PC, thus opening up for new possibilities of adding to the code base for those games and even making emulation obsolete for Nintendo 64. The big difference between that and Wine/Proton is that the Nintendo 64 project completely converts all code into native Windows executables (.exe) instead of wrapping around the original code, from my understanding.

Well, the average Windows user likely would not be using either Photoshop or Affinity Photo for that matter. What an average user would need is a way to do average stuff like writing documents, dealing with bank/government services, browse the internet, watching streams, using social media, playing videos and audio, and playing games. That's basically it. Most of that stuff are either done through browsers, are already free software like VLC, are done through phone apps, and using Steam or some other game launcher. I was able to set practically all of that up in a couple of hours at most on my Linux Mint install through downloading from the built in app downloader or directly from the websites like you already do on Windows. The only thing I was having any issues with was audio, but that was solely because I was using a USB audio interface that the vast majority of people never use. Built in sound cards don't have this issue and unless you are doing audio productions, you likely won't face any issues at all as an average desktop user. For the average user Linux is perfectly serviceable as an OS. It's when you need more specialised software where you will have to jump through a lot more hurdles to make Linux work, but it really depends on what type of work that is. However, then you are no longer talking about the average PC user anymore. An average user would be fine running Gimp or other FOSS or web browser based alternatives since they do not need the advanced features to do simple image editing for instance. Linux is outperforming MacOS on Steam in terms of user base (Windows is still the undisputed king), which is a big deal since Steam is dwarfing all other gaming platforms on PC. Gaming on Linux is more popular than on Mac. Heck, even when looking at the mobile phone market it isn't just a clear cut win for Apple. Android is built on Linux and it is the most popular mobile platform when looking at just Android vs iOS. Also, Macs haven't been good for gaming for years and Apple users are a different kind of breed altogether. If you are a creative then Apple products are for you, but if you want to game then Linux is the better option. Picking a distro to support isn't that much of a concern. Linux distros may be plenty, but a lot of them are based on other more common distros like Ubuntu and Linux Mint being based on Debian. If let's say Affinity was ported to Debian, then it would mean that branches of Debian would be able to run Affinity as well. Even other distros not related to Debian would be able to run Affinity as long as the nerds (we're not geeks) make the effort to make it run. Then there is the Steam route where Proton (which is just a different version of Wine that Valve also contribute patches to) is able to run the vast majority of my Steam library with very little setup beyond installing the right Proton version. It's not perfect, but it's been working incredibly well after just a week of using Linux Mint. I even have other work software I use on Steam like Substance Painter working practically flawlessly from my Steam account. If Affinity had a Steam version odds are that I would be able to run the entire Affinity Suite on Steam right now. I would even double dip and pay again for it if that's what it takes to make it run.

Yes, there are a bunch of little inconsistencies like that. One that sticks out to me especially is the inconsistent widths of panels. There are a couple which can become thinner than the default minimum which cause issues when they are stacked together. Some icons also become cropped because of those inconsistencies.

Been sitting in Linux Mint since about Wednesday. Surprisingly decent, with some issues here and there such as my external audio interface and some software not working out of the box. Have yet to attempt a completely proper install of Affinity besides running the Wine installer and it failing instantly, but it will be my next step soonish to see how it performs. I sure hope Serif/Canva will really consider porting Affinity over to Linux or add additional Wine/Proton customer/dev support to their staff. From my personal standpoint I will still have to work with Windows 10 until I have Affinity either working on Linux or somehow finding a better alternative that supports Linux. Been able to transition fairly well into the Linux ecosystem already so it's only a matter of adapting things as they come. One thing's for sure, I will do everything in my power to defy the future that the likes of Microsoft and Adobe crave.

Mint or Arch would be my go to choices for installing Linux (currently looking into doing so on one of my hard drives for dual booting). Having Affinity being supported on a single distro at least would make the transition easier, since I stopped using Photoshop altogether long ago on my home station. Having some support for SteamOS I think would be a good idea as well if you want a portable Linux version using the SteamDeck. Assuming that Affinity would ever get its own Steam release which would make Affinity more popular among game developers. At least that's just an idea.

There is currently no easy way to rasterise a Compound Mask Layer, which would make it easier to use this feature for merging various Mask Layers. This is also important because exporting to PSD will break Compound Mask Layers, since that feature doesn't exist in Photoshop. Being able to simplify the merging process as well as automatically rasterise these layer types during export would make Affinity more compatible with Photoshop for those who still rely on its file format.

I think it's a good direction to take, yes. Having a dedicated UX designer to keep track of all our feedback and to steer development will reduce the amount of development time in the long run. Having a solid design document with up to date feedback along with a strong vision will make things more polished by not having to go back and redesign them later down the line. A couple of examples would be the Links panel and the first iteration of UI workspace presets. Both solid features that are/were held back by its clunky UX. At least with the workspaces it was fixed during that same Beta, but because of its first design it took extra development time to go back and fix. It's gotten better over time, but a dedicated UX designer will be able to spot issues like that early to rectify them before any code has been written. V2 has been fixing significantly more bugs than V1. As long as they keep hiring more developers and avoid releasing patches like 2.5 too early I think we're on the right track. I got to say though that was a bit disappointing to see 2.5 be released just for meeting a deadline for the Canva presentation event. It was clearly not ready.

Well, having your budget increase in the millions kind of allows you to hire more people with very specialised experience. I really doubt posts like these are what made Serif want to hire such a position, because running a team will naturally make you see what's missing. You can't however always act out on those things and need to make due with what resources and manpower you have. At least it's good that the money wíll be put into adding those missing puzzle pieces. Also, pay attention to that this position is more than just doing UX design. It is also about integrating Serif and Affinity into the Canva culture and ecosystem. Affinity will likely change pretty radically as a brand going forth as it gets more integrated into Canva. We'll just have to wait and see how that change will look like.

Yes. Also, the entire thing was very scripted with each of them filling out each other's sentences and going back and forward in a pretty predictable way. I wonder how much rehearsal was needed for all of it.

Going to take some time getting used to this kind of presentation. Canva is like the textbook definition of a hipster brand apparently. As a full on nerd this is pretty jarring. Out of all things I would expect from Affinity this year, a rap dance number wasn't on my bingo card. XD Wasn't that much new info in there it seems beyond some of what was already mentioned during the buyout announcemnt. I hope that Affinity itself won't become way too hipster oriented during future presentations with more focus on the actual features for professionals.

I run Windows 10, yes. I use two Seagate USB external hard drives with 4 and 5 TB storage capacity with the NTFS and exFAT file system respectively.

You can only do that if you use 2.5 Beta and 2.4 retail. 2.5 Beta is the same as 2.5 retail. It would be nice if Affinity had an install manager that allowed multiple versions of the same software installed. 2.5 isn't compatible with 2.4, so no, you can't open those that way. You can however copy+paste whatever you are doing in 2.5 into 2.4 and vice versa without crashes as long as it isn't a feature that doesn't exist in that previous version like a filter or something similar.

Yeah. Luckily this time I was able to find an exported image of my creature that wasn't too outdated, so I will be able to recreate it without losing it all. I hope the devs can somehow salvage something from my source file or figure out something else about the issue from that I just sent.

As I said, I have a lot of extra resources to work with and I also keep track of my resources on a regular basis, so I know that isn't the problem.

A slider where you can go back to the old functionality and even further like making all the nodes into hard nodes would be fantastic.

I have 200 GBs of free space on my C:-drive. My RAM is also pretty solid at 64 GB, so I have a lot of space to do heavy workloads. As I mentioned before, this only started happening around 2.2 I think with none of these issues happening before, so I am very certain that it isn't my specific hardware that is malfunctioning or running out of space.

Sent!

I had this exact issue during the Beta with no installed fonts, i.e. Google fonts, appearing on the list, but they existed in 2.4. When I updated to 2.5 for retail that bug appeared there as well. One file that I worked on in 2.4 also had the font turn up missing when opening up after the update. I tried downloading and installing that font manually again, but nothing happened to fix the issue in Affinity.

I don't understand your question.