Preorder Affinity for Ubuntu

[sg1asgard]

And Why Affinity will gain on developing for Linux

OK, so as I understand Serif needs a $500.000 mark to start developing the products for Linux.

On my own personal time I already convinced many devs into buying Affinity and they never looked back into Adobe. However, most of us work on Linux/Ubunut or alike.

Here's my proposal to you:

- Make a PreOrder for the target of $500k
- Reach the target, start develop
- Deliver

I pledge my self to place in preorder 2 licenses for Affinity Desiger and Affinity Photo, each! 

 

As developers we are not cheap, just so you know. Personally I purchased multiple lifetime licenses on developer training websites which are way more expensive than all your products combine 10x over.
I beg of you, make this happen! You will only win!

Bests,
George

Edited February 3, 2021 by George A.

[wonderings]

6 hours ago, sg1asgard said:

And Why Affinity will gain on developing for Linux

OK, so as I understand Serif needs a $500.000 mark to start developing the products for Linux.

On my own personal time I already convinced many devs into buying Affinity and they never looked back into Adobe. However, most of us work on Linux/Ubunut or alike.

Here's my proposal to you:

- Make a PreOrder for the target of $500k
- Reach the target, start develop
- Deliver

I pledge my self to place in preorder 2 licenses for Affinity Desiger and Affinity Photo, each! 

 

As developers we are not cheap, just so you know. Personally I purchased multiple lifetime licenses on developer training websites which are way more expensive than all your products combine 10x over.
I beg of you, make this happen! You will only win!

Bests,
George

Not sure why we need another thread about this, there are 2 very active ones already. I don't think Serif ever mentioned needing $500,000 before the would do anything for Linux. 

[sg1asgard]

20 minutes ago, wonderings said:

Not sure why we need another thread about this, there are 2 very active ones already. I don't think Serif ever mentioned needing $500,000 before the would do anything for Linux. 

This is just one of them mentioning the same $500k:

 

While there are are two other topic or more about Linux, none of them actually asked Affinity what I just proposed as the main topic.

I would like to see more replies with, Yes, I will back it up! : D
 

[wonderings]

50 minutes ago, sg1asgard said:

This is just one of them mentioning the same $500k:

 

While there are are two other topic or more about Linux, none of them actually asked Affinity what I just proposed as the main topic.

I would like to see more replies with, Yes, I will back it up! : D
 

All the Linux threads have people saying they would buy multiple copies, switch their whole company to Affinity, even pay more for the software than Windows and Mac users do. 

[Renzatic]

I say we mail them a bunch of annoying musical greeting cards every day until they finally get sick of it, and make Affinity available for Linux just to make it stop.

For example...

[sg1asgard]

@Renzatic I know what you mean

On Windows I purchased Affinity Studio (P, D, P) 6 licenses already, a few for my self, a few as birthday presents. I have 2 licenses over OSX as well, when I was working on a Mac. 
I've switches since then to mainly Windows and Ubuntu.

All I'd like at this moment in time is for Serif to consider my proposal and see if it can bring their products to the Linux community. As much as I'd like to say GIMP is great, coming from years of Adobe then Affinity, I can say it is doing something okish for a free software. As a UX professional as well I have to say it is simply not enough what GIMP brings... I'd be more than happy to support Affinity as pledged above.

[Renzatic]

4 hours ago, sg1asgard said:

All I'd like at this moment in time is for Serif to consider my proposal and see if it can bring their products to the Linux community. As much as I'd like to say GIMP is great, coming from years of Adobe then Affinity, I can say it is doing something okish for a free software. As a UX professional as well I have to say it is simply not enough what GIMP brings... I'd be more than happy to support Affinity as pledged above.

It's a good idea in theory, but there are a number of reasons why Serif would probably shy away from a preorder or crowdfunding setup.

See, there are just too many potential pitfalls involved for them to roll with it. You'll have all these hundreds of people popping up to throw their money into the Linux Affinity fund, with the expectations that they WILL eventually get what they paid for at some point in the not too distant future. Serif takes the money, and begins plugging away at the porting process.

...but what if things don't quite go according to plan? Things end up taking far longer than expected, and even after all that time, they haven't been able to get the Linux Affinity revs running on par with their Mac and Windows counterparts. End result? You have all these people who spent all this time, effort, and money convincing Serif to build their products for Linux waiting 3-4 years for a bunch of slow, buggy programs.

The internet being what it is, people will be angry. News will spread. Teeth will be gnashed. Death threats will be made. A moderate PR kerfuffle ensues, and a lot of the good will Serif has generated over the years could be lost due to various unforeseen circumstances.

Now what are the chances of this actually happening? Probably pretty low, but the risks involved with crowdfunding are very real, and something that a lot of companies don't want to have to deal with. As much as I'd love to have my Affinity programs on Linux, I can understand why Serif is being overly cautious about things, and why they'll shoot down any attempts to give them money to help inspire them. 

[sg1asgard]

There is an old saying: "The moment favors the bold"

Serif should pick up on it and go forward.

[Snapseed]

On 2/3/2021 at 9:49 AM, sg1asgard said:

And Why Affinity will gain on developing for Linux

OK, so as I understand Serif needs a $500.000 mark to start developing the products for Linux.

On my own personal time I already convinced many devs into buying Affinity and they never looked back into Adobe. However, most of us work on Linux/Ubunut or alike.

Here's my proposal to you:

- Make a PreOrder for the target of $500k
- Reach the target, start develop
- Deliver

I pledge my self to place in preorder 2 licenses for Affinity Desiger and Affinity Photo, each! 

 

As developers we are not cheap, just so you know. Personally I purchased multiple lifetime licenses on developer training websites which are way more expensive than all your products combine 10x over.
I beg of you, make this happen! You will only win!

Bests,
George

I am afraid I have to inject some realism here and say that this is just not going to happen.

Linux will likely get Affinity Photo, Designer etc but only when Linux's market share approached that of macOS so making it economically viable to port over their softwares. That exactly why Skylum, ON1, etc don't make their products available for Linux either. No amount of pleading, begging or whining on a forum is going to change economic reality.

In the meantime, if someone really wants to use Serif Affinity products on Linux then the options are dual boot or virtual machine (Wine & Crossover don't currently work).

[sg1asgard]

Every one told Linus there's no point making another OS since there's already Windows or OS.
They also told him GibHUB is not going to be profitable, and he sold it years later for 7 bil $. 

If you have time to tell me why is not gonna work you most definitely have the time to post, YES, I SUPPORT the initiative and pledge for N amount of licenses.

[Renzatic]

5 minutes ago, sg1asgard said:

Every one told Linus there's no point making another OS since there's already Windows or OS.
They also told him GibHUB is not going to be profitable, and he sold it years later for 7 bil $. 

If you have time to tell me why is not gonna work you most definitely have the time to post, YES, I SUPPORT the initiative and pledge for N amount of licenses.

I'm not saying it's not worth trying to convince Serif to port their apps to Linux, rather that you should find a way to do so that doesn't require a monetary commitment up front, since that could open a can of worms no one wants opened.

A petition would be a good start. Gets some signatures. Show that there is support. Personally, I find guilt tripping, and annoying them with musical cards to be pretty effective options too.

[Snapseed]

15 minutes ago, sg1asgard said:

Every one told Linus there's no point making another OS since there's already Windows or OS.
They also told him GibHUB is not going to be profitable, and he sold it years later for 7 bil $. 

If you have time to tell me why is not gonna work you most definitely have the time to post, YES, I SUPPORT the initiative and pledge for N amount of licenses.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to quintuple the user base of desktop Linux.

Only when that happens will software companies like Serif Affinity and Skylum sit up and take notice and start to consider making their softwares available for Linux.

[sg1asgard]

20 hours ago, Snapseed said:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to quintuple the user base of desktop Linux.

Only when that happens will software companies like Serif Affinity and Skylum sit up and take notice and start to consider making their softwares available for Linux.

It is our mission, not mine alone.
PS: I accidentally reported your post due to the amazing UI here while trying to click on share.

Edited February 5, 2021 by sg1asgard
spelling

[wonderings]

19 minutes ago, Renzatic said:

I'm not saying it's not worth trying to convince Serif to port their apps to Linux, rather that you should find a way to do so that doesn't require a monetary commitment up front, since that could open a can of worms no one wants opened.

A petition would be a good start. Gets some signatures. Show that there is support. Personally, I find guilt tripping, and annoying them with musical cards to be pretty effective options too.

Are there examples of petitions working for something like this? Seems to me anyone can sign a petition but not everyone will actually follow through and pay. Also with online petitions you can sign it over and over so really how accurate are they?

Serif is a business, they are in this to make money. If they see an opportunity that can make them money and works with their game plan then I am sure they will do it, just as Adobe or anyone else would. Where this is money to be made someone will find a way to make it. Adobe looked into it and decided not to pursue anymore and they are a company that has the money and resources if anyone was going to bring a full fledged graphics suit to Linux I could see them first. I think the market is small and Serif is small, so it might not be in their best interest at the moment to jump into Linux but rather focus on the 3 OS's they do support and continue to update and improve them.

[Dan C]

13 minutes ago, sg1asgard said:

PS: I accidentally reported your post due to the amazing UI here while trying to click on share.

Don't worry, report closed

[sg1asgard]

Just now, Dan C said:

Don't worry, report closed

Much appreciated Dan!

[sg1asgard]

9 minutes ago, wonderings said:

Are there examples of petitions working for something like this? Seems to me anyone can sign a petition but not everyone will actually follow through and pay. Also with online petitions you can sign it over and over so really how accurate are they?

Serif is a business, they are in this to make money. If they see an opportunity that can make them money and works with their game plan then I am sure they will do it, just as Adobe or anyone else would. Where this is money to be made someone will find a way to make it. Adobe looked into it and decided not to pursue anymore and they are a company that has the money and resources if anyone was going to bring a full fledged graphics suit to Linux I could see them first. I think the market is small and Serif is small, so it might not be in their best interest at the moment to jump into Linux but rather focus on the 3 OS's they do support and continue to update and improve them.

I do repeat my self man. I already have 5+ licenses on Windows and 1 for OSX which at this moment in time I am not using.
Why? I am on Ubuntu most of the time and I am using Figma which works just fine. I purchased also other licenses as a present for friends and family just to support the company and also give a normal, sane and fair use for a product you pay for.

If this is not proof enough that going for Ubuntu is lucrative and will actually pay off I don't know what will.

 

[wonderings]

Just now, sg1asgard said:

I do repeat my self man. I already have 5+ licenses on Windows and 1 for OSX which at this moment in time I am not using.
Why? I am on Ubuntu most of the time and I am using Figma which works just fine. I purchased also other licenses as a present for friends and family just to support the company and also give a normal, sane and fair use for a product you pay for.

If this is not proof enough that going for Ubuntu is lucrative and will actually pay off I don't know what will.

 

You are one person with some licenses, you sound generous and have friends and family who are lucky to get such nice gifts. But this is not proof that Serif should be making a Linux version, it is proof they should continue to be making Windows and Mac versions as they are selling so well. It is anecdotal at best.

[Snapseed]

24 minutes ago, sg1asgard said:

It is out mission, not mine alone.
PS: I accidentally reported your post due to the amazing UI here while trying to click on share.

Take a look at the operating system that I use below and the photographic recovery magic that I was able to do on a late 19th century ferrotype photo.

That was done with the native Linux Pixeluvo software and while it would be really nice to have access to Affinity Photo, I do not need it because there are other viable alternatives also including Fotoxx, PhotoLine + Wine and Photopea (both the online and Electron versions).

[Eldritch]

Just switched to Linux. I really liked Affinity Designer for graphic design and text, and was about to buy the publishing version, but it looks like there is no interest in Linux support and it appears that none of the Affinity programs work on Wine. I would definitely buy Linux licenses and happily pre-order.

At this time I probably won't be using Affinity anymore.

The desire for an OS that respects my privacy (unlike Windows) and doesn't lock me into their way of doing things (unlike Mac) exceeds my desire to stick with Affinity or keep my hundreds of Photoshop/Affinity brushes.

[Snapseed]

37 minutes ago, sg1asgard said:

I do repeat my self man. I already have 5+ licenses on Windows and 1 for OSX which at this moment in time I am not using.
Why? I am on Ubuntu most of the time and I am using Figma which works just fine. I purchased also other licenses as a present for friends and family just to support the company and also give a normal, sane and fair use for a product you pay for.

If this is not proof enough that going for Ubuntu is lucrative and will actually pay off I don't know what will.

 

But here's the thing though - the staff at Serif Affinity, Skylum, ACDSee, etc just don't care.

The only important criterion for them is overall desktop operating system market share so that they are pretty much guaranteed a large market from which they can make money. That is where Linux currently falls down.

[Renzatic]

1 hour ago, wonderings said:

Are there examples of petitions working for something like this? Seems to me anyone can sign a petition but not everyone will actually follow through and pay. Also with online petitions you can sign it over and over so really how accurate are they?

Serif is a business, they are in this to make money. If they see an opportunity that can make them money and works with their game plan then I am sure they will do it, just as Adobe or anyone else would. Where this is money to be made someone will find a way to make it. Adobe looked into it and decided not to pursue anymore and they are a company that has the money and resources if anyone was going to bring a full fledged graphics suit to Linux I could see them first. I think the market is small and Serif is small, so it might not be in their best interest at the moment to jump into Linux but rather focus on the 3 OS's they do support and continue to update and improve them.

Not for this exact kind of situation, but I have heard of petitions working before. Though you are right, a signature isn't a guaranteed future sale for Serif, though it does work as a potential show of support. The hope is that a lot of signatures equates to a lot of interest.

Yeah, I understand why Serif hasn't fully committed to supporting Linux yet. There are lots of question marks that would make any small company think twice about it. Is there a large enough interest among the currently installed base for them to turn a profit? Are there a lot of people out there who only stick with Windows and MacOS just because they can't get their favorite programs on Linux, and would they move if said favorite programs became available? Yeah, there's a ton of potential to make money on the platform, but there's also just as much of a chance that they could lose their shirts in the attempt to support it.

 So I guess it's up to us to convince them it's worthwhile.

...in the meanwhile, I'm considering buying one of those new M1 Macbook Airs to pair with my desktop machine. That'd be my overly expensive second best option. 

[Renzatic]

1 hour ago, Snapseed said:

Take a look at the operating system that I use below and the photographic recovery magic that I was able to do on a late 19th century ferrotype photo.

...is that Gnome 2? Man, that's oldschool.

For pure color editing purposes, I'm surprised you're not using Darktable. Being closer to Lightroom in style and functions, it's actually a good bit better than Photo and its analogs at that task. The problem is when you adjust your colors and lighting, and edit your shots, there isn't anything on Linux as good as.

[Snapseed]

18 hours ago, Renzatic said:

...is that Gnome 2? Man, that's oldschool.

For pure color editing purposes, I'm surprised you're not using Darktable. Being closer to Lightroom in style and functions, it's actually a good bit better than Photo and its analogs at that task. The problem is when you adjust your colors and lighting, and edit your shots, there isn't anything on Linux as good as.

It's modern Ubuntu Mate and I really like the logical and easy menu layout.

Linux is fortunate to have four really capable RAW editors in the form of Darktable, Rawtherapee, Lightzone and Aftershot Pro but for additional image processing...there's Gimp. While there has been good progress in the past couple of years, there are still significant omissions, such as non-destructive image editing, that are already in place in commercial equivalents and that needs to change at some point.

[Snapseed]

In other news, someone from very far away has arrived with a message: