Hartmut Doering

I think the people referred to are the "call it GNU/Linux/Pop!" folks but that seems to be a very loud/ active minority. I think AP and AD are more targeted at creatives with a Mint, Fedora or Pop! Workstation who want to get stuff done. A lot of them use closed-source if they see value in it, for example, Substance, Houdini, ... and I never saw anyone of them complain about the fact that they have to pay for them. A lot of them think Adobe is crazy money expensive but I think that is a reasonable opinion. I also never got the feeling they are all tinkerers, some just buy there System 76 Workstation and do their stuff. With more "educated" (sorry my English is bad I know) I mean that a lot of them are the PC Gamers from 10-20 years ago which now moved from Windows because they don't like the walled garden approach, or they also code and need a System that is more suited for that but don't want to pay extra for a Mac. But they modded some games or such before and have a basic understanding of how Computers work and how to get them to do what they want.

There are more complicated creative tools on Linux then AP, for example, Houdini, Blender, Maya, Unreal Engine 4. Also, there are tools that are similar to AP like Darktable, Gimp, Krita. So if the Coral team wasn't able, that does not mean it always is not possible. It's not that hard to make Apps multi-platform when you architect them well from the start. You then just have one guy sitting there and refitting the parts that "talk to the OS". When the App is well done, most of the parts of your program don't need to be touched for another OS these days. I suspect that most of AP is created with Multi-Platform in mind otherwise they would have a ton of extra work to do for Windows and Mac that could be done once for both. I worked in a games company and would argue linuxusers in general are more educated when it comes to fixing problems and using forums. In general, a user answered even complicate problems before we could do it in the forum. I guess the reason is when you have an open OS, you basically "can screw every piece apart and look at it". I had Windows for 20 years and Mac for two, but in two years of using Linux I learned much more than in the 20 years before because it all comes naturally to you when you can look at every part when you want a better understanding of it.

You've just reminded me of something that might be worth looking at - Wine. It's been around for decades and might solve your problem. From the intro on their About page:  Wine (originally an acronym for "Wine Is Not an Emulator") is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, & BSD. Instead of simulating internal Windows logic like a virtual machine or emulator, Wine translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls on-the-fly, eliminating the performance and memory penalties of other methods and allowing you to cleanly integrate Windows applications into your desktop. Disclaimer: the last time I tried anything with Wine was 10 to 15 years ago on my Mac at work. I haven't used it since then, but neither have I heard anything bad about it since then. Hi, AP has currently no maintainer for Wine, that's why it does not work flawlessly like PS in Wine. But I found a way to make it work. Instead of Wine which "emulates" Windows and needs a Maintainer who asks Serif which Libraries AP needs and puts them in the AP-Wine-emulation, I use Virtualbox. Virtualbox is a complete Virtual Machine, I had to install Windows in it. I found out AP worked flawlessly in Virtualbox when I give the Virtual Machine (VM) 8 GB of RAM and a separate SSD from Mint. Also, 3D Acceleration needs to be turned on. - The downside for some people is, you need a Windows Licence Key for this approach. + The upside is you have for example a super sturdy Mint Workstation, and Windows runs controlled inside it, with drag and drop and all the good stuff. + Also, you can snapshot the VM, so when I start it, it does not boot Windows and such. It just opens a Window with the Windows 8.1 Desktop and AP already open and ready to use. I just have to drag my file over in AP, hit fullscreen and get stuff done. + All these, Windows-Registry stability problems or updates that interfere with my schedule are gone. + Also, I can use 8.1 far beyond its support cycle because I can manage what access to the Internet I allow the VM specifically. So till Serif makes a proper Linux Version this is my solution. Good news also is with Flatpacks Developers now only have to make one Linux Built, and it workes on all Distros and their versions, so the maintenance of Linux Programs is as easy as making a .exe file now. Even easier, because you can put the version of each Library inside the Flatpack and have no maintenance of versions. So maybe Serif will change its policy in the future.

Linux +1 I would terminate my Win 8 dualboot system if AP and AD would get a Linux Version. Also I would buy it for up to 200€ per program to help to get the Linux Version off the ground. Maybe Serif can calculate the cost and start a Kickstarter for a Linux Version, so the financial risk is eliminated? As short term solution: With a KVM (kernel virtual machine or hardware passthrough ) you should be able to get AP and AD to work as native Windows Version under Linux. The Adobe Progies allready work with hardware passthrough. But I didn't tried to get AP and AD to work this way now.

Hi, often I have coworkers on my workstation. They like Affinity Photo but can't get stuff done fast because they only know the shortcuts from Photoshop or other coworkers from Krita. Can you guys put a option in Affinity Photo to switch to Photoshops or Kritas shortcuts fast and back, so my coworkers can get stuff done on my machine too? That would help a lot,