Affinity products for Linux

[thedrumdoctor]

2 hours ago, Stephen_H said:

For years I've been wanting to move off Windows and onto Linux, but without pro apps for a graphic designer, I can't. I understand the chicken and egg situation - No designers using Linux because there's no apps for them. There are no apps for them because all the graphic designers are using Windows/Mac.

I've just had to reluctantly give up on Peppermint after exhausting attempts trying to transfer music to my iPhone over USB. The furthest I got was access to the folders under DCIM where the photos are stored. It's a non-starter and before anyone says, "switch to Android", I used Android for years before conceding that the iPad Pro + Apple pencil is superior to any drawing/handwriting/photo editing experience I had on a Samsung equivalent. Buy the tablet and the phone follows.
 

If you spend a lot of time with an electronic pencil in your hand or record music, then Linux is a road to disappointment. I really want to use Linux, but it is ignored by the software companies whose software I have purchased; which leaves me questioning, if it is effectively useless in the commercial graphic design and music production world (two large sectors of revenue in the creative arts world), then who is Linux for? 

[wonderings]

On 9/21/2021 at 5:01 AM, Stephen_H said:

For years I've been wanting to move off Windows and onto Linux, but without pro apps for a graphic designer, I can't. I understand the chicken and egg situation - No designers using Linux because there's no apps for them. There are no apps for them because all the graphic designers are using Windows/Mac.

I truely do not care what OS I'm using. I started on Macs and loved the interface, but moved to Windows because Mac's hardware stopped giving me ports and storage. (When you live in Africa, we can't just fit in with first world thinking of "everything in the cloud" and just connect wirelessly. We barely have electricity, let alone always-on highsleed, affordable broadband) It was a hardware decision not an OS preference. I support Affinity because I've always been a sucker for the under dog. It's as much of a poke in Adobe's eye as it is a better financial choice. (I suspect that's the case for many Affinity users).

I apply the same attitude to Linux. It's the under dog and want to support it.

I don't even care what distro I have to use. If Affinity announced that their apps only ran on one speciffic Linux distro, eg: Mint KDE, I would choose that distro as my Linux OS. If they chose Manjaro or Suse... done.

Side note... I'd support a kickstarter fund - even if it's to guage the financial viability of Linux support.

I would never "support" a company just because they are the underdog. These are not charities or institutions helping change the world for the better, they are companies trying to make money, lots of money, by hopefully selling a product that lots of people will buy. I purchased all 3 because I was curious and the applications are cheap and it allows me to see what options are out there and to learn why I could or could not move away from Adobe. I could care less about who came to market first with what feature, just what is best for me at the end of the day. That company gets my money, for no other reason than they offer me the service and software I deem best for my uses. I am not donating money to any for profit companies. 

[Renzatic]

7 hours ago, thedrumdoctor said:

I really want to use Linux, but it is ignored by the software companies whose software I have purchased; which leaves me questioning, if it is effectively useless in the commercial graphic design and music production world (two large sectors of revenue in the creative arts world), then who is Linux for? 

3D DCCs, where a good 90% of the software available has Linux support in some shape, form, or fashion. It's also has small, but decent amount of video editors available for it too.

[jea-n]

On 9/13/2021 at 10:48 PM, anto said:

Problem is in wine's bug

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=45277

and from crossover forum i have got answer that

 

I had a hunch Valve’s new Proton stuff would handle that eventually. Looks like the Experimental version added support for Vulkan child windows today. I wonder if you could set it up to run with Proton through Steam.

I haven’t tried it yet.

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by jea-n
remove links

[Snapseed]

On 9/21/2021 at 10:01 AM, Stephen_H said:

For years I've been wanting to move off Windows and onto Linux, but without pro apps for a graphic designer, I can't. I understand the chicken and egg situation - No designers using Linux because there's no apps for them. There are no apps for them because all the graphic designers are using Windows/Mac.

I truely do not care what OS I'm using. I started on Macs and loved the interface, but moved to Windows because Mac's hardware stopped giving me ports and storage. (When you live in Africa, we can't just fit in with first world thinking of "everything in the cloud" and just connect wirelessly. We barely have electricity, let alone always-on highsleed, affordable broadband) It was a hardware decision not an OS preference. I support Affinity because I've always been a sucker for the under dog. It's as much of a poke in Adobe's eye as it is a better financial choice. (I suspect that's the case for many Affinity users).

I apply the same attitude to Linux. It's the under dog and want to support it.

I don't even care what distro I have to use. If Affinity announced that their apps only ran on one speciffic Linux distro, eg: Mint KDE, I would choose that distro as my Linux OS. If they chose Manjaro or Suse... done.

Side note... I'd support a kickstarter fund - even if it's to guage the financial viability of Linux support.

I am afraid there is little chance of that happening in the short to medium term. Using the example of Photoshop, Pixeluvo is a native Linux equivalent of Photoshop Elements and PhotoLine is a full Photoshop equivalent that works very well with Wine. For finding native Linux options for other Windows softwares then I would suggest using https://alternativeto.net

If a Linux user really has to use Affinity products (or any other Windows software) then WinApps is a useful virtual machine option and there's more about is here https://github.com/Fmstrat/winapps plus there are tutorials on Youtube about how to set up WinApps on a Linux computer. That said, I personally would not even try that option with less than 16GB of RAM.

 

[Solarius]

14 hours ago, Snapseed said:

If a Linux user really has to use Affinity products (or any other Windows software) then WinApps is a useful virtual machine option and there's more about is here https://github.com/Fmstrat/winapps plus there are tutorials on Youtube about how to set up WinApps on a Linux computer. That said, I personally would not even try that option with less than 16GB of RAM.

 

I have used WinApps for a while (with 16Gb of RAM), when I needed my Affinity suite for small graphic works on a big project that required me to be on linux. It does not crash and work fairly well, until you try to do stuff. Then you realize that the interface is really slow and barely usable when you need to display several elements (which is a common case) : adding a point to a curve could take from half a second (blank page) to a few minutes (big file). I ended up switching OS again as it was more efficient…

It looks like the display relies a lot on hardware acceleration (and that makes sense), a feature that is in most cases unavailable on virtual machines. Unless you have a dedicated second graphic card for your virtual machine (which is not common and requires specific hardware and setup), forget about it. More dedicated RAM/CPU won’t make it more usable.

WinApps is a great option for cpu-based softwares (I have used it for Rhino3D almost flawlessy), for Affinity apps it requires too much hardware and power to be reasonably considered as a viable option in my opinion.

[Pufty]

I tried Wine at this point and I got as far as installing Affinity Designer. Launching it creates a field where the loader should be, but instead my screen in that area gets frozen and nothing ever happens further. Virtualbox and trial windows just to run it was slow. Disgustingly slow when dropping files into the virtual machine.

Now WinApps sounds hopeful, so thank you for pointing it out. I might wanna try it. I'm willing to wait a second for a single click, because so far I've barely reached that part and my PC seems might be able to take that. CPU is i7 6700K and DDR4 32GB RAM.

[kamanderside]

I'll be frank, with Steam moving to make Windows/Mac games compatible with Linux out of the box, Affinity's the only program holding me back from switching back to Ubuntu again. Especially with the upcoming Win11 release that will likely render my 10-yr-old computer useless, because I'll need to upgrade the motherboard, to upgrade the processor, to keep it compatible.
I would be willing to purchase new Affinity license keys for a Linux version, really, instead of dumping money on what would essentially be a new computer when Win11 comes out.

[thedrumdoctor]

1 hour ago, warzmanda said:

Affinity's the only program holding me back from switching back to Ubuntu again.

I still need iPhone-over-USB capability to use Linux as long as I use an iPhone. Trying to sync music to any native Linux music management application is a non-starter. iTunes under Wine gives zero phone connectivity either. If Windows 11 is going to demand ridiculous resources, it'll be interesting to see how far the Linux + Snap + Sosumi VM has moved forward, or whether Apple find a way to stop the project or similar. 

[IanSG]

12 hours ago, warzmanda said:

 Especially with the upcoming Win11 release that will likely render my 10-yr-old computer useless, because I'll need to upgrade the motherboard, to upgrade the processor, to keep it compatible.

Why "useless"?  I've seen nothing to suggest I'd want to move to Win 11, even if I could - 10 still works and support will be available for years.

[Pufty]

47 minutes ago, IanSG said:

Why "useless"?  I've seen nothing to suggest I'd want to move to Win 11, even if I could - 10 still works and support will be available for years.

Heh, seeing Win11 was the final step to fully committing to Linux

I think the 10yr old computer still got a good shot of being useful. Not that I know for certain, but people on Linux have more control on what they want to see on their PC, so a lot of background bloat can be cleared.

Windows 10 was fine at the start, could get rid of stuff I didn't use at all, could clear background processes that changed nothing in my usage, but pre-installed items always appearing after the mandatory, unskippable updates became more annoying with the cool addition of not being able to Uninstall certain programs anymore. Started using a debloater (giving long strings of code in a console admin rights from a random source online, lol), but that was becoming regular too. Updates kept adding everything back. Compared to Linux, I took things for granted on Windows (like video codecs, editing and designing software working out of the box), but was also given the shaft at the same time 😬

[ralphleue]

I am a Linux, Mac and Windows user. I would love to have Affinity programs for Linux. I would pay for them. I would pay double for them. I have paid for two complete sets of Affinity products so far (one set for me and the other a gift for my brother), plus almost all of the other software they offer (brushes, etc.). I bought all of the Serif software prior to Affinity. There must be more folks like me.

[thedrumdoctor]

8 hours ago, ralphleue said:

I am a Linux, Mac and Windows user. I would love to have Affinity programs for Linux. I would pay for them. I would pay double for them. I have paid for two complete sets of Affinity products so far (one set for me and the other a gift for my brother), plus almost all of the other software they offer (brushes, etc.). I bought all of the Serif software prior to Affinity. There must be more folks like me.

Me! And others, from what I’ve seen on this thread.

However, it seems Linux has lost out in the cross-platform usability stakes. So much today is done on hand-held devices and this as we know, is dominated by iOS & Android. The ability to switch between desktop and hand-held is a must-have in business/productivity and in the desktop creative world, Mac & Windows dominate. I don’t think Affinity will port to Linux as long as they can seamlessly go from iPad to Mac & Windows desktops.

I’m going to start experimenting with Mac running on Sosumi on Linux with hardware pass-through. I’d build another Hackintosh, but Apple’s proprietary CPUs will eventually kill bare-metal installs, so KVM pass-through looks like the longterm ‘Hackintosh’ future. If Apple didn’t insist on making their factory stuff impossible to upgrade I’d likely invest in another one. 
 

Windows 10 continues to annoy me after every update with its auto-resets, so I run the ‘Shut Up Win 10’ app after every update. But Linux is just so ‘no-nonsense’ in its outlook. Microsoft could make a killing with a version of Windows just to run pure productivity software - no games or fun. To run music recording software on a Windows box without interruption requires the switching off of a lot of background crap. Again, Linux would be great, but there is next to no development for industry-standard VSTi plug-ins. So everyone is forced back to Win/Mac because people just don’t have the time in their lives to fight to make stuff work on Linux and the software creators go with the market share. People just want to get things done at the end of the day.

[kamanderside]

On 9/30/2021 at 2:22 AM, IanSG said:

Why "useless"?  I've seen nothing to suggest I'd want to move to Win 11, even if I could - 10 still works and support will be available for years.

Win11 is essentially putting the kabosh on older processors, and that's including relatively recent ones that are younger than my AMD FX-4###. It will still be useable, but performance is going to be quashed severely.

 

On 9/30/2021 at 3:27 AM, Pufty said:

Heh, seeing Win11 was the final step to fully committing to Linux

I think the 10yr old computer still got a good shot of being useful. Not that I know for certain, but people on Linux have more control on what they want to see on their PC, so a lot of background bloat can be cleared.

Windows 10 was fine at the start, could get rid of stuff I didn't use at all, could clear background processes that changed nothing in my usage, but pre-installed items always appearing after the mandatory, unskippable updates became more annoying with the cool addition of not being able to Uninstall certain programs anymore. Started using a debloater (giving long strings of code in a console admin rights from a random source online, lol), but that was becoming regular too. Updates kept adding everything back. Compared to Linux, I took things for granted on Windows (like video codecs, editing and designing software working out of the box), but was also given the shaft at the same time 😬

Was dual-booting Ubuntu on my Vista laptop back before I built my desktop :P. Only fully switched back to Windows when I got a copy of 7 through school and started playing games on Steam.

But yeah, been watching quite a bit of Linus Tech Tips (LTT) lately, esp. on Win11 and the new Framework laptop (option to come as a DIY kit and can install your own components/OS). Even if the Framework startup company were to fail, one can still do a lot of the repairs/replacements that would be near impossible to an end user on a typical laptop.

Linux distros have come a long way in being user-friendly recently (use it on our entertainment PC that's hooked up to our TV), and even Steam gaming is getting serious about cross-compatibility with Linux, adding functionality without having to use WINE. If I were forced to get a new computer, the Framework Laptop running Pop! Linux would be my current go-to. My copy of 10 is locked to my current system, so either way I'll have to buy a copy when I'm someday ready to move to more recent hardware, and just making a donation to my fav Linux distro would be so much nicer.

Linus of LTT was going to give Linux as a daily driver a go to see if he could handle a full-time, perma switch from Windows, something I'll be watching closely.

[IanSG]

19 minutes ago, warzmanda said:

Win11 is essentially putting the kabosh on older processors, and that's including relatively recent ones that are younger than my AMD FX-4###. It will still be useable, but performance is going to be quashed severely.

The fact that I can't run Win 11 on my old system doesn't make my system unusable, it makes Win 11 unusable.  I can't be the only one whose looked at 11's new features and thought "so what?".  

[EmanueL-AT]

Here is one more vote for "Affinity for Linux", especially when it comes to Publisher. When I look at what's going on with Windows 11, I see one more good reason for me to switch to Linux, at the latest when Win 10 support will expire.

However, there's mainly one thing keeping me "locked-in" so far: There's no Linux version of Affinity, and the range of DTP alternatives for Linux is terribly narrow. With Affinity running on Linux, it would be much easier to shut Windows down on my PCs finally.

So, if Affinity and the penguin will become friends (I hope they will), keep a licence ready for me.

[Stephen_H]

On 10/2/2021 at 4:31 PM, thedrumdoctor said:

But Linux is just so ‘no-nonsense’ in its outlook. Microsoft could make a killing with a version of Windows just to run pure productivity software - no games or fun. 

Ahhh... remember the days of Windows NT?

[thedrumdoctor]

9 minutes ago, Stephen_H said:

Ahhh... remember the days of Windows NT?

Hell yeah! I used to admin NT 4 domains! But just imagine if Microsoft did NT 4 with plug-and-play support....

[kamanderside]

23 hours ago, IanSG said:

The fact that I can't run Win 11 on my old system doesn't make my system unusable, it makes Win 11 unusable.  I can't be the only one whose looked at 11's new features and thought "so what?".  

That's the point. In 2025 they're dropping support for Win10. If my box is still working well at that point, I'll either have to upgrade Win11 and deal with the crappy performance, buy a new computer and run Win11 on that, or...

...just use Linux, which is usually free with the option of donating to the distributor of whichever Linux OS was picked. But Affinity doesn't run natively on Linux, and I need it for my personal work. I could just go back to using GIMP or some other free/open source solution, but I'd rather not.

Honestly Affinity would be a great pairing with Linux - breaking with the Adobe model they've done, why not break with with the Mac/Windows OS model and offer a Linux option as well? (Not denying it could be a ton of extra work to do it, and last I checked they're strapped for programmers as it is).

I'm at the point where I'm just going to nab another ssd to throw POP! on and start dual booting again. Throw the 10-day Photo demo on WINE and see what happens.

[IanSG]

14 hours ago, warzmanda said:

That's the point. In 2025 they're dropping support for Win10.

That's my point too 😀 - I've got (at least!) 4 years before I have to consider replacing H/W, and even then I've got the option of living with the increased security risk if I opt to stick with Win 10.  My working assumption is that, by then, the OS will be just one of a number of factors influencing my thoughts.  Bottom line - I see Win 11 as an inconvenience, not as something that'll render my system useless.

[wonderings]

17 hours ago, warzmanda said:

That's the point. In 2025 they're dropping support for Win10. If my box is still working well at that point, I'll either have to upgrade Win11 and deal with the crappy performance, buy a new computer and run Win11 on that, or...

...just use Linux, which is usually free with the option of donating to the distributor of whichever Linux OS was picked. But Affinity doesn't run natively on Linux, and I need it for my personal work. I could just go back to using GIMP or some other free/open source solution, but I'd rather not.

Honestly Affinity would be a great pairing with Linux - breaking with the Adobe model they've done, why not break with with the Mac/Windows OS model and offer a Linux option as well? (Not denying it could be a ton of extra work to do it, and last I checked they're strapped for programmers as it is).

I'm at the point where I'm just going to nab another ssd to throw POP! on and start dual booting again. Throw the 10-day Photo demo on WINE and see what happens.

Why would Affinity and Linux be a great pair? One is closed the other is open, I don't really see anything that says these companies are like minded. 

I think that it is always the balance of need vs want. If I needed to do certain things the OS would be less important to me as I would care more about the software I need to use. I would use the OS that supports the software that lets me get the job done.  

[Pufty]

I'm ashamed that we need to use Windows to get things done, because I hate my experience with it. I still have to use Affinity on Windows. It's like a really toxic relationship you can't just 'click' sever. There is some satisfaction to be had when suddenly the regular wrestling with the updates just ends. New issues got introduced with Linux for a scrub like me, but at this point it's smooth sailing.

I started using Linux a few months ago, found a Desktop environment to stick with and that's it. At this point I'm going great lengths to get Affinity working on Linux whether it's through Wine (hasn't worked so far), Virtual Machine (Slow) or by remote connecting to my work computer (good speed, still streamlining). Affinity is the one thing I don't want to lose by having everything I need on my main machine. Maybe that's why I still suck at compatibility tools Haven't had the discomfort to open the terminal and learn a new language.

[thedrumdoctor]

24 minutes ago, wonderings said:

Why would Affinity and Linux be a great pair? One is closed the other is open, I don't really see anything that says these companies are like minded.

To be fair, you could ask the same question of the company who produce Insync cloud syncing software. They are 'closed' yet they support Linux which allows users to sync data with Microsoft, Google and Dropbox. Similarly, Cockos who make the incredibly popular music creation DAW, Reaper, port for Windows, Mac and Linux. There does seem to be an increase in software vendors bothering to make versions of their software for Linux, but the creative world is still poorly served in this area of development. I do take on the principle of your point though, in as much as the roots of Linux are not embedded in the commercial world and have different goals.

Looking at other replies on this thread, there may be some sort of agreement between Affinity and Microsoft and Apple not to port Affinity products to any other platforms. Affinity don't port to Android either yet there are plenty of large Android tablets with pen support. Clearly, there is potential revenue from both Android and Linux users, but it has to be either ROI or fall-out with the market desktop-dominators which prevent them from developing.

[wonderings]

34 minutes ago, thedrumdoctor said:

To be fair, you could ask the same question of the company who produce Insync cloud syncing software. They are 'closed' yet they support Linux which allows users to sync data with Microsoft, Google and Dropbox. Similarly, Cockos who make the incredibly popular music creation DAW, Reaper, port for Windows, Mac and Linux. There does seem to be an increase in software vendors bothering to make versions of their software for Linux, but the creative world is still poorly served in this area of development. I do take on the principle of your point though, in as much as the roots of Linux are not embedded in the commercial world and have different goals.

Looking at other replies on this thread, there may be some sort of agreement between Affinity and Microsoft and Apple not to port Affinity products to any other platforms. Affinity don't port to Android either yet there are plenty of large Android tablets with pen support. Clearly, there is potential revenue from both Android and Linux users, but it has to be either ROI or fall-out with the market desktop-dominators which prevent them from developing.

I was replying to a post that said Affinity and Linux would be a great pare. I do not know why they would be a great pare, it would be great if Affinity and every other software company made their products for Linux to give users more options for computers, but there is nothing specific that would make them a "perfect" pare. 

I can't see Microsoft or Apple making any sort of exclusivity deal to keep away from Linux. I could see one of them going after exclusivity for their platform, but Affinity is pretty small potatoes and would not be a selling point for any OS to say they alone have Affinity. If there is money to be made someone will find it and capitalize on it. Adobe looked at it years ago and opted out, and they are a multi billion dollar company and if anyone has the resources and money to burn on testing the waters it would be them. It does not mean Adobe could be wrong, but I would guess they did some very real research on the potential of getting their money back from Linux users if they released their software on that platform. 

[IanSG]

46 minutes ago, thedrumdoctor said:

Looking at other replies on this thread, there may be some sort of agreement between Affinity and Microsoft and Apple not to port Affinity products to any other platforms.

While other replies have suggested that Serif must be monumentaly incompetent not to have jumped at the business opportunity that's so obvious to the reply's author.  This strikes me as a variation on the same theme of 'it can't be true that porting to Linux isn't good business, so ... '.  Any loss of revenue by MS or Apple would be well below their corporate radars!