👨‍💻👩‍💻 Sign our petition and help bring Affinity to Linux!

[Isaac.Batis]

🌍 Let’s bring Affinity to Linux! 🚀

Affinity is one of the most powerful graphic suites on the market, but it is still unavailable for Linux. We, users and design professionals, know that a native Linux version would further strengthen the professional market, providing a serious alternative to Adobe and making Linux an even more attractive platform for creatives.

👨‍💻👩‍💻 Sign our petition and help bring Affinity to Linux!
Your signature could be the key to showing Canva and Serif that the Linux community is ready to embrace this powerful creative suite.
 

  🙂 Petition 👇

Affinity for Linux – A Strategic Opportunity

To: Serif, Canva, and the Affinity Community

We, graphic designers, editors, illustrators, photographers, advertisers, and other creative professionals, officially request the development of a native version of the Affinity suite for Linux.

With Serif’s recent acquisition by Canva, there is a unique opportunity to establish Affinity as an accessible and professional alternative in the market. This initiative would not only benefit Linux users but also expand Affinity and Canva’s reach into a new segment.

 

Why is Linux a viable market?

1. A growing market 🚀
   Linux is seeing increasing adoption among creatives, developers, video editors, and motion designers.
   Distributions such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Pop!_OS, Zorin OS, and Arch Linux are becoming increasingly popular among designers and graphics professionals.
   Companies like Valve (Steam) and Blackmagic (DaVinci Resolve) have already invested in Linux and are seeing positive results.
2. Lack of strong competition 🏆
   There is no professional and integrated graphics suite on Linux at the level of Affinity.
   Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are not available on Linux, creating a gap in the market.
   Software like GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, and Scribus are fantastic, but they do not fully replace the professional workflow of Affinity.
    
3. Easier development 🖥️
   Technologies like Wine and Proton already allow many users to run Affinity on Linux, but a native version would ensure better performance and compatibility.
   An official version could be distributed via Flatpak or AppImage, ensuring compatibility across distributions.
   The Affinity codebase for macOS could facilitate a port to Linux, as both share a UNIX-like core.
    
4. Expansion of Affinity and Canva’s user base 🌍
   The Linux community is highly engaged and tends to support companies that invest in the platform.
   Many professionals are willing to purchase a perpetual Affinity license for Linux, as they prefer to avoid Adobe’s subscription model.
   With Linux’s market growth, Affinity’s presence would solidify Canva’s position in the global creative industry.
    

Our Request
We ask Canva and Serif to consider developing the full Affinity suite for Linux (Photo, Designer, and Publisher). This initiative:

• Does not undermine open-source software (GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, Scribus) but rather complements them, strengthening Linux as a viable system for professionals.
• Creates a real alternative to Adobe in the Linux market, benefiting designers, illustrators, and graphic editors.
• Encourages more Windows and macOS users to migrate to Linux, knowing they will have high-quality tools available.

Next Steps

• Assess the feasibility of a Linux port.
• Consider a Beta version to test the market.
• Engage with the community to understand needs and technical challenges.

We urge Canva and Serif to hear our voices and consider this unique opportunity to expand Affinity’s impact! 🚀

 

 🙂 Petition Link 👇

🔗  Sign and share to bring Affinity to Linux!

 

💬 Share with your friends and creative colleagues! Let’s make some noise to ensure that Linux gets a professional design suite like Affinity!

#AffinityForLinux #GraphicDesign #LinuxForCreatives #Affinity #Canva #Petition #Technology #OpenSourceSoftware

 

Edited March 1 by Isaac.Batis

[Alfred]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, @Isaac.Batis.

There are several threads about Affinity apps on Linux, which is already several threads too many! Since senior Serif staff have made it abundantly clear that Serif is a commercial enterprise, not a democracy, a petition (which is essentially a kind of voting mechanism) serves no useful purpose here.

[fde101]

1 hour ago, Isaac.Batis said:

Your signature could be the key to

...wasting everyone's time and contributing to the frustration of the community when Serif completely ignores it, as they have essentially implied a few times would be their likely response to such a thing.

 

1 hour ago, Isaac.Batis said:

Blackmagic (DaVinci Resolve) have already invested in Linux

Resolve has run on Linux for a long time, even prior to BMD's limited support for it, as the dedicated hardware consoles used to be part of a turnkey system that was the *only* way to obtain Resolve (at very high price points), with software-only download versions for computers coming much later than that.  BMD has invested more heavily, from what I can tell, in providing macOS support than in providing Linux support, but they have made the previously turnkey-only Linux version of Resolve more widely available as a software-only download version, so they are keeping it up to some degree, though their distribution support is somewhat limited.

 

1 hour ago, Isaac.Batis said:

Creates a real alternative to Adobe in the Linux market

How so?  Adobe's software isn't available on Linux either.  If someone prioritizes the choice of using Linux over the applications, then they aren't using Adobe, so this can't be considered an alternative to Adobe.  If someone prioritizes the software over the operating system, and they are currently using Adobe software, then they aren't using Linux (at least not for that purpose), so they would not be in that "market".

 

1 hour ago, Isaac.Batis said:

Assess the feasibility of a Linux port.

They have already done this and determined that it is not yet there.

 

1 hour ago, Isaac.Batis said:

Consider a Beta version to test the market.

Even a beta version would require most of the development time that would go into a release version, so using one to "test the market" would be spending probably 90% of the effort that would be required to develop the final versions, meaning that they would already be committed to seeing it through, thus it would need to come after they would "test the market".

 

6 minutes ago, Alfred said:

There are several threads about Affinity apps on Linux, which is already several threads too many!

Agreed, and I would suggest this one be closed, as Serif has already done with several others which have recently been created.

[Snapseed]

Tbh, it would be far more potentially productive to promote and vote for the second option here:

https://appdb.winehq.org/votestats.php

[fde101]

2 hours ago, Snapseed said:

vote for the second option here:

That is for version 1.8, and if you limit the category to "graphics" software, there are two versions of Affinity Photo (1.8 and 1.9) and one version of Affinity Designer (also 1.x) in the list.

Curious that none of the 2.x versions seem to be listed...  only versions that are no longer for sale.

[Isaac.Batis]

"More Than a Petition: An Opportunity to Demonstrate Demand"

---

I understand that some may view this petition with skepticism, arguing that Serif (now under Canva) is unlikely to make this decision based solely on a community movement. However, I believe the goal here is not to 'democratize' or force the company to act, but rather to demonstrate that there is real demand and a community willing to support a native Linux version.

Companies analyze these types of movements to gauge market potential. If a significant number of people show interest, it could at least open the door for future discussions—whether for an official version or improved support through Wine/Proton.

At the end of the day, it’s like planting a seed. Even if the results are not immediate, showing interest and engagement can influence the company’s future decisions.

😃

[Alfred]

50 minutes ago, Isaac.Batis said:

to demonstrate that there is real demand

Senior staff at Serif seem to be well aware of the demand, but the amount of investment required is apparently not an attractive prospect at present.

[Pšenda]

On 3/1/2025 at 4:29 PM, Isaac.Batis said:

Sign our petition and help bring Affinity to Linux!
Your signature could be the key to showing Canva and Serif that the Linux community is ready to embrace this powerful creative suite.

Do you think creating more and more petitions will create the appearance of increased interest?

 

 

On 3/1/2025 at 4:29 PM, Isaac.Batis said:

The Linux community is highly engaged and tends to support companies that invest in the platform.

The reality may be a little different.

 

 

[Snapseed]

20 hours ago, Alfred said:

Senior staff at Serif seem to be well aware of the demand, but the amount of investment required is apparently not an attractive prospect at present.

It is the low Linux domestic user base that (4% market share compared with macOS at 14%) that is responsible for companies not providing a Linux version because it not commercially viable at that low level.

Instead of the perpetual whining and spamming of this forum with exactly the same request every few weeks, these same Linux users ought instead to become Linux evangelists and start recruiting new Linux converts to boost that low Linux market share. It is only then that we will see some change.

Just for the record, I am a 100% Linux user these days and Pixeluvo meets my current image editing needs (think Affinity Photo lite).

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-to-install-pixeluvo-package-on-ubuntu/ .deb file (Ubuntu, Debian)

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/pixeluvo .rpm file (Fedora, Suse)

^ Those are trial versions and In order to unlock the advanced features, payment must be made -  http://www.pixeluvo.com/buynow/

[Leigh]

We already have a thread dedicated to Linux, so locking this thread.

Your equivalent post is here