Affinity products for Linux

[jacekl]

Hello,

I managed to fire up AD 1.0 on Ubuntu (under wine) after several hours of struggle.

 

However, I can't run the version 2.0 installer for the hell of it. It's a file with .msix extension, does anyone know how to install it under Bootles?

 

[pattmayne]

On 11/10/2022 at 2:50 PM, Unleavened Tech said:

Affinity 2.0? No Linux support in 2022? No way I'm supporting this company again... And I don't recommend anyone else to do so either.

Look for alternatives:

• Inkscape: Honestly, Inkscape isn't as bad as I used to think. It's a pretty okay and capable vector editing application. The UI and UX do take some time to get used to, but it is a real Illustrator / Designer alternative, and even has features that Affinity Designer doesn't.
• GIMP: On the other hand, GIMP is still where it used to be 20 years ago: it's an alternative to Adobe Photoshop 1.0. GIMP is still stuck at GTK 2 I believe, so it is not really developed that much anymore, so that's why it's so behind any other photo editing application like Photoshop or Affinity Photo.
• Krita: Still missing some features, but more actively developed than GIMP, and it already is more capable than GIMP.
• Photoshop / Illustrator: There are methods for getting both to work on Wine, although they are older versions (2018 I think).
• Photoshop Web: It's an online version of Adobe Photoshop, available for free (as in free beer, not as in freedom). You do need an Adobe account though.
• Photopea: Another online photo editor, also available for free (as in free beer, not as in freedom). Better compatibility with PSD formats than Affinity Photo. Pretty capable.
• MiniPaint: Free & open-source online photo editor, quite new, so it lacks a lot of features, but still has some that GIMP lacks. Might be useful in the future.
• Pinta: Free & open-source alternative to Paint.net.
• Gravit Designer: vector graphics application.

I see that Krita let's you do CMYK color space. So this will replace Gimp and Affinity for me. I used Affinity for printed materials when I was using Windows. I've abandoned Windows and now Krita seems to be basically my only option. And it's pretty good.

[MikeW]

10 minutes ago, pattmayne said:

I see that Krita let's you do CMYK color space. So this will replace Gimp and Affinity for me. I used Affinity for printed materials when I was using Windows. I've abandoned Windows and now Krita seems to be basically my only option. And it's pretty good.

Photoline runs under wine and handles cmyk just fine. I don't know what you use a photo editor for, but it may be an option. 

Viva Designer has a Linux version for layout. 

[pattmayne]

26 minutes ago, MikeW said:

Photoline runs under wine and handles cmyk just fine. I don't know what you use a photo editor for, but it may be an option. 

Viva Designer has a Linux version for layout. 

Good to know. I'm going to try to avoid Wine and just use native Linux stuff if I can!

[1stn00b]

Development version of GIMP got CMYK , GTK 3 and many other things : https://www.gimp.org/news/2022/08/27/gimp-2-99-12-released/ almost ready for 3.0 release. And it's available on Flathub beta repository :

 

 

[pattmayne]

17 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

Development version of GIMP got CMYK , GTK 3 and many other things : https://www.gimp.org/news/2022/08/27/gimp-2-99-12-released/ almost ready for 3.0 release. And it's available on Flathub beta repository :

 

 

Oh this is good news.

[Kamei Kojirou]

1 hour ago, pattmayne said:

I see that Krita let's you do CMYK color space. So this will replace Gimp and Affinity for me. I used Affinity for printed materials when I was using Windows. I've abandoned Windows and now Krita seems to be basically my only option. And it's pretty good.

Yeah, that's what we have been using for about a year now after my business switched to using mainly PopOS. we do mainly Vector and Raster art, but when I do need to manipulate a photo it does just fine. I'd rather support a native solution that supports the platform than duct a half broken solution that could be broken with each new version. Inkscape 1.2 replaced Designer for us and Krita mostly replaced Photoshop/Photo. We also use Dark Table and RawTherapee as well. Honestly, there isn't a whole lot we miss. YMMV but we made it work for us.

[Kamei Kojirou]

22 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

Development version of GIMP got CMYK , GTK 3 and many other things : https://www.gimp.org/news/2022/08/27/gimp-2-99-12-released/ almost ready for 3.0 release. And it's available on Flathub beta repository :

 

 

That's cool! One more major roadblock removed. Hopefully after that, they'll focus on UI/UX like Inkscape did.

[Kamei Kojirou]

2 hours ago, jacekl said:

Hello,

I managed to fire up AD 1.0 on Ubuntu (under wine) after several hours of struggle.

 

However, I can't run the version 2.0 installer for the hell of it. It's a file with .msix extension, does anyone know how to install it under Bootles?

 

.msix isn't as well supported as .exe as far as I understand. Due to this it's not likely to happen anytime soon.

[1stn00b]

@jacekl

U can use Bottles to simplify things up for V1

 

 

[Unleavened Tech]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:11 PM, jaizon said:

That's a strange statement. You are trying to "punish" a company for not doing something you wanted it to do but which it never said it would and that expressed in many situations it wouldn't? hum...

I'm not trying to punish them. I am just no longer supporting them. It's called "voting with your wallet". Punishing would be if I took money they already have from them. Not supporting is just not giving them any additional money. Even if I could choose to get a refund for my Affinity license, I would not. I have gotten plenty of use of it when I was on Windows, and it was worth the money I paid for it. But because it no longer meets my requirements (it's 2022 and I was finally able to ditch Windows for good) and Serif's vision clearly does not align with mine, I'm not going to choose to support them and their attitude again by purchasing V2. Instead, I'm going to give my money to a developer whose vision aligns with mine. For people who are still using Windows/MacOS, I'm not recommending not upgrading to V2. But people who want Linux support so badly  shouldn't support a company that is not willing to co-operate with us after years of reasoning.

[jacekl]

 

On 11/13/2022 at 8:42 PM, 1stn00b said:

@jacekl

U can use Bottles to simplify things up for V1

 

 

I used Bootles for version 1, the screenshot shows it, now I am writing about version 2, here it is impossible to use Bottles

[1stn00b]

Seems they will give us MSI installers :

 

[ShadeOn]

Interesting.. the first scratches of thorns on the skin for making a 100% dedicated client to an OS using ONLY what that OS is promoting (by being the only way, ignore the rest) to enhance the whole apps developed on that platform comes as a backfire. (not even those who promote those on that platform can confirm if it's bad or good.. yikes!) (and we talk about W10/11 here..)

Now they got into a fork path.. continue doing 100% what an OS says it's best (and ignoring other old school working ways on that OS) or do what things work so users can use the apps and get their $$$$ in their pockets.

That Topic 1stn00bb added before shows that W10/11 already starts not to be a noob's os like in the old days it was known for. (click-click-yes/no-yes/no->finish->open->yay it works and now I can play/work with it) and it clearly shows where Windows will head to in the future.

While I agree I am a Windowist (since I grown up with as OS) and am used to it's way of how it was organized to the user's mindset and workflow, W10/11 kinda starts to break, either making too simplistic and some details are hidden (and later on you have problems troubleshooting it like in that above topic, and some changes cannot be made in the visual side), or they re-organize all the logical that was fine for decades, into new "try out" (and untested enough, but forces to be used as standard ASAP and patches after patches along the way... ) like the brands that change their logo even though the brand's name is same and all people know it. What I want to say is that people are starting to change stuff that worked and had logic into something different, subjective "just so we could refresh stuff cause we don't feel alright to use same stuff like our parents or grandparents used". Good thing Tesla cars don't burn out of nothing while driving or in the parking space..

Anyway.. if they change the installation client mode and it makes it possible to install afterwards in Wine, we're back on the good road.

Like the user "Zero Zero" sums up very nice trying to remind Affinity their mission and why they started doing Graphics Programs (cause they like what they are doing and want to let others use it also, as any developer's heart + mind set should be) :

" I very much like what Serif is doing with Affinity and love the software but cannot stand this insane change to the standard installation procedure.

Please Serif fix this unwanted installation mess asap. and please retain some independence from the dumbing-down that Micro$oft continually applies to Windows in the so-called attempt to make it better.

I sincerely hope you listen. "

[pattmayne]

14 hours ago, 1stn00b said:

Seems they will give us MSI installers :

 

One more reason that I abandoned Windows. That thread is beautiful lol. Tell us again how we're wrong to request Linux compatibility.

But it sucks that I'll never be able to use the Affinity software that I paid for.

[1stn00b]

@ShadeOn

Windows 11/10 is just a rotten onion built from decades of development debt where they added trash on top of old trash, hardcoded fixes and call it a day. Just look at that "new" Explorer as an example - the 2 trillion $ company just couldn't write a new modern file explorer - they just glued some "mica" blurred toolbars on top : >

[walt.farrell]

3 hours ago, pattmayne said:

But it sucks that I'll never be able to use the Affinity software that I paid for.

Why did you pay for it? Especially V2, if you've purchased it, when you knew it was not supported on Linux.

With the MSI, V2 may run as well on Linux as V1 did. Or not, depending on what other dependencies V2 has added that Wine and friends don't support yet.

[ShadeOn]

26 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

With the MSI, V2 may run as well on Linux as V1 did. Or not, depending on what other dependencies V2 has added that Wine and friends don't support yet.

As long as we have a chance to install it on Wine/Bottles, and Mark can pin-point us why some errors appear and 1stn00b or others can't fix it without those dependencies, I welcome it, since we can skip the virtual machine

[pattmayne]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Why did you pay for it? Especially V2, if you've purchased it, when you knew it was not supported on Linux.

With the MSI, V2 may run as well on Linux as V1 did. Or not, depending on what other dependencies V2 has added that Wine and friends don't support yet.

I bought it and used it when I was using Windows 7.

[walt.farrell]

21 minutes ago, pattmayne said:

I bought it and used it when I was using Windows 7.

Thanks for the clarification. It sounded like you were talking about a new purchase. And that part of the thread seemed to be about the changes in V2.

V1 has never worked on Linux, officially, either. And you can keep using V1; just keep using Windows. 

[pattmayne]

59 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

just keep using Windows. 

Nope. I'm using Krita and GIMP on Linux!

[ShadeOn]

On 11/11/2022 at 8:17 PM, alpineguy said:

I was eagerly anticipating the rollout of V2 and looked forward to some of the new features that would be added. Unfortunately, the decision to install the applications as an app in Windows has kept me from purchasing the update. Like so many of the previous commenters, I will likely wait until Serif develops the traditional method of installation before committing to V2. I do want to support Serif and the price structure of the upgrades seem appropriate to me. Yet I don't want to jump through a series of workaround hoops to just get things working like every other Windows software program.

Interesting stuff I read until now from that topic 1stn00b added here. This person got to the same idea and style of how to be a simple and effective install on any OS. (in this case Windows from that topic)

On 11/11/2022 at 8:55 PM, UweJelting said:

I am not interested in the MSIX installation procedure as I have disabled the Microsoft store and MS spying. As long as there is no .exe installation option, version 2 is out of the question for me. Especially since the big announced innovations do not represent any particular added value in my opinion. I will continue to work with the installer-friendly version 1.

Sounds familiar ?

On 11/12/2022 at 8:14 AM, kelement said:

I just reinstalled Windows 11 a few days ago. As usual, I nuked the app store. I do not use apps.

Purchased without knowing I'd be sent an app. After seeing this, I decided to give it a shot anyway instead of immediately asking for a refund.

Install fails, of course. The problem was that the installer would halt because updating firewall rules wouldn't work while my Windows Defender Firewall service wasn't functioning. Why in god's name do I have to troubleshoot a firewall service to install a photo editor? Because app.

Of course the solution was to add permissions to the registry key for the BFE service. When you are changing registry key permissions, something is not right in the world. You have taken a wrong turn. So then everything appears to be running fine. But I run into another issue. If I have an .afphoto file open (not a raw) and I click the File menu, the "app" immediately crashes. That's where I am now.

The one and only reason I switched from Adobe to Affinity is that I deeply resent Adobe's abuse of my property. I do not want ridiculous spyware that reaches its tentacles into every corner of my systems and constantly phones home. It looks like Affinity will be adopting the same model that places user needs last.

On 11/11/2022 at 11:23 AM, Imonobor said:

Serif, what the frick? Literally show me ONE user post saying "hey I wish the programs installed as apps so I have absolutely no control over anything on my pc and wish my programs don't even work". This is exactly what we mean when we say you don't listen to your community - you don't implement features they want, you implement ones you "think" we want. This "you think you do but you don't" mentality will not serve you well - it will repulse your userbase and they will go to the competing suites instead, as we have seen a lot of people in this thread have already done. Every basic feature you don't have, but your competition does is a reason for a user to switch over. And instead of implementing those basic features, you waste time and resources implementing what is essentially stripping the control your users have over their OWN software and OS, following in Microsoft's horrible example. This is a huge no-no. I don't think I'll be buying V2 any time soon either.

 

I think the real reason they did this is DRM, but here is a reality check - people will find a way to pirate your software either way. Making regular users suffer for it is a terrible practice, because it will push more of them to pirate it without the horrible DRM you put in. I have diasabled Windoze Store on all my windows installations, so I'm not even able to try out your demo so I can decide if I want to buy it, how is that a good marketing practice?! And think of the linux users that have been asking for Linux support all these years, and instead you just shove the software deeper in Micro$oft's clutches, so they have even less of a chance to emulate it.

 

I honestly hope you can see how much this change hurts your software and give us a regular exe installer. Otherwise I fear Affinity V2 will flop spectacularly, which is would be a shame.

On 11/11/2022 at 9:23 PM, momsoft said:

I am also very annoyed by the fact that Affinity has decided to go the Windows App route, so I want to add my comment here.

Please consider that many of your users like Affinity because it is not an Adobe/Microsoft/[Insert other big software company names here].

We want to retain some control over the software we own and we install in our machines and do not like the route computing is taking.

I am very happy to see that I am not the only one concerned.

Annoy your customers, and you might find you lose them.

1stn00b, here are users from Windows who share and got to same conclusion as you (and I agree, in Linux companies can control their software, and if a distribution makes wrong moves, company can leave. That's why most offer to .deb , .rpm, and now snap, flatpak etc which is easier to contain all file dependencies and it's file versions.

On 11/11/2022 at 9:51 PM, Gremnosh said:

Well, I'm glad and sad that I saw this before buying. Glad because it saved me from the hassle of refunding. Sad because I've had serious respect towards Serif so far.

I was planning on buying the full bundle since I'm in a need of a layout software and Publisher would've filled that need.

I've also been using Photo and Designer for a good long while and wouldn't have minded getting an upgrade for both.

But, this whole apps instead of proper exe software is an absolute deal breaker. If I can't decide where software goes on my PC and what it does and when it does it, it doesn't go on my PC. With the exception of Windows because I use way too much software that is not natively supported on Linux.

So yea, unless Serif come to their senses and offer me a way to properly control the software I buy from them, I am not buying from them. And will not be recommending their software to anyone in the future, as I've thus far done to several organisations and individuals.

And I need to keep on looking for a layout and publishing software. 

Same needs, different OS, but same world.

From now many pages from that topic, we can get to some conclusions :

1. Not many accept the store's thing, and more options are welcome. There is a saying "Don't add all eggs in same basket" . If something goes wrong with a OS, at least you have control over the others until the affected one is fixed.

2. What happens later if Windows 12 will be released and .exe and .msi get restricted ? (psst.. Mac OS or Linux)

(I stopped believing when they said W10 was the last version and won't do another one after..)

 

The difference between the 2 topics is that, on that one, people remained on Windows cause they are tied to apps they are dependent for work, and try to ask for help for at least those apps to work in sync. And on this topic, we moved from Windows as main OS and try to adapt to paid or free softwares that can meet our professional dependencies/aspirations, while asking help to have at least those apps to work here so we can continue using those. The more options are available, the more people can move around (or have more active OS like me with 7,8.1 and 10 on laptops, Linux on Main PC , and W10 VM over Linux on Main PC. (and yes.. not all of us have the $$$$ to buy every 5-7 years a new Apple product)

Plus.. if we think about the new Universal License which can be used on Mac, IPad and Windows... we can conclude that number of users on Mac, Windows and Linux is done, buried, out of question, cause it's not valid anymore... right ?

Hope this gets fixed so we can see Serif recover and continue it's development (both in code and heart)

 

And yes.. the idea of having virtual machine with W10 for V2 still remains if with Wine/Bottles will not progress forward with new additions into dependencies..

[1stn00b]

Don't worry the next version of Windows will be exclusively subscription based and run only on hardware that has the Pluton "chip-to-cloud" malware. Microsoft will decide what u can run or not run on your device, remotely make your devices e-waste if they ban your account - in a nutshell China Social Credit for everybody. Your privacy will be non-existent since every device will have a unique identifier that would be sent to every entity you interact from that device "to verify if your device security is not compromised" : >

[ShadeOn]

2 hours ago, 1stn00b said:

Don't worry the next version of Windows will be exclusively subscription based and run only on hardware that has the Pluton "chip-to-cloud" malware. Microsoft will decide what u can run or not run on your device, remotely make your devices e-waste if they ban your account - in a nutshell China Social Credit for everybody. Your privacy will be non-existent since every device will have a unique identifier that would be sent to every entity you interact from that device "to verify if your device security is not compromised" : >

Agree.. even the Nvidia renting hardware thing will accompany this. I mean.. even someone from GW2 told me that they play from a dual core 4 GB DDR2 SSD Laptop with some low video card with 1920x1080 resolution, using only internet cable that is in sync with his Nvidia's account, and he's doing all the gaming and using apps from the browser..

But like in some previous posts I specified.. it's still better to have a local OS, have working apps locally, otherwise on blackout and internet down, nothing will work. Only those with generators can still work on their PC for a couple of minutes of hours.

Now I got to that part of the forum topic where even Patrick Connor starts to see the "handcuffs" where they can't control anymore.. W12 here we come (in virtual box)

In Linux and Mac is same thing anyway.. installing through the Software Center (or whatever Mac has) and goes into a default partition. But at least you can have control over it from both sides (Dev company & users)

[1stn00b]

Well his comment aged like milk : >