Affinity products for Linux

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, 1stn00b said:

@chiddekel

Forum hint: To tag another user, you must:

1. Type an @ sign, then
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[walt.farrell]

15 hours ago, 1stn00b said:

and also : >

You will not be able to enable Hardware Acceleration unless both those conditions are met. This is not related to the value you choose for Renderer.

[1stn00b]

10 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Forum hint: To tag another user, you must:

1. Type an @ sign, then
2. Start typing their username (no pasting allowed; must be typed), then
3. Select their username from the popup list that appears. Then you will get something that looks like @1stn00b and if they have chosen to be notified of mentions, they will be notified.

My intention was never to spam anybody with useless notifications , i am just simply pinpointing who i'm responding to without filling my posts with tons of quotes like u see here.

Also without quoting your 2nd post : you don't really know what we will be able to do or not do in the future with or without Serif help. Last time i checked Affinity software didn't come with transparency or shader effects on closing windows like u see in my low quality recording ; >

[Frozen Death Knight]

Question to Linux users, what's the Linux equivalent of Windows Ink/WinTab API for drawing with tablets? How well supported are Wacom tablets?

[1stn00b]

Wacom Leads the Way with Drawing Tablets for Linux : >

Everything works out-the-box without u having to install anything, since they are included in the Linux Kernel like AMD or Intel hardware. There is even a Wacom section in Settings if u have a tablet :

 

 

 

[Frozen Death Knight]

@1stn00bCool! So, how well does the API for drawing with high precision input work with Affinity? Is Linux able to translate over Windows Ink to something that works, since that's what Affinity supports on Windows?

[1stn00b]

Since Serif doesn't support the Linux platform and some of us already posted the Affinity in a Bottle experiences on this forum, i don't think that is a question worth answered at this moment in time. A valid one would be how good is the Wacom experience with Krita, Blender etc but that is just a search away on the web. 

I would check the improvements from time to time when there is a major new Wine release or an Affinity software update, but i don't intend wasting my time with this software in the current form. It's just a stressful unpleasant experience when everything else just works : >

[Snapseed]

48 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

Since Serif doesn't support the Linux platform and some of us already posted the Affinity in a Bottle experiences on this forum, i don't think that is a question worth answered at this moment in time. A valid one would be how good is the Wacom experience with Krita, Blender etc but that is just a search away on the web. 

I would check the improvements from time to time when there is a major new Wine release or an Affinity software update, but i don't intend wasting my time with this software in the current form. It's just a stressful unpleasant experience when everything else just works : >

Have you been able to try it out yet using a VM within Linux and, if so, how did it work? Thanks (l'm guessing that you might have 32GB RAM?).

[1stn00b]

Sadly i don't  do Windows VMs, only Fedora Silverblue, since i intend to fully upgrade to that in the future (not ready yet for my setup) and next Fedora versions before hitting the Upgrade button. For my other needs i use Podman containers managed before by Fedora Toolbox and now by Distrobox.

Last time i tried Windows in Boxes was 17 june 2021 when that W11 leak gone out : That non-removable Recommended ADs sections is still there 1 year later so yeah nope.

But then again old Windows is still one F11 press away at PC Boot to chose the 250GB nvme it's rotting on, if i really really need to run something there which i don't since is just an inferior experience : >

[walt.farrell]

13 hours ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

@1stn00bCool! So, how well does the API for drawing with high precision input work with Affinity? Is Linux able to translate over Windows Ink to something that works, since that's what Affinity supports on Windows?

Affinity supports both Windows Ink and WinTab, I believe. I would guess that WinTab is more likely to be supported in Wine,

[Frozen Death Knight]

18 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Affinity supports both Windows Ink and WinTab, I believe. I would guess that WinTab is more likely to be supported in Wine,

If that is supported it means that once Affinity works properly through stuff like Proton and/or Wine, it is then possible to paint with high precision tablet input, which is a necessity for high quality art.

Considering how much progress Valve have been making with SteamOS and Proton, it is probably just a matter of time before Linux is able to run all the software I require to work. This video shows the potential of SteamOS. Once Valve officially releases a downloadable desktop version along with proper Nvidia driver support (another hurdle that Nvidia has started to fix with the help of open source drivers being in the works), I will give Linux and Proton a go to see if I can get it to work with my workflow.

As it looks like right now, Windows 10 likely will be my last Windows OS considering how utterly atrocious Windows 11 is both from a user experience standpoint and from a security standpoint. The push for ads in their OSes is something I will not tolerate in any paid for retail product.

[1stn00b]

You don't need SteamOS to run games under Linux. You just install Steam, Lutris, Bottles,  etc and you are good to go, unless you own an Nvidia GPU :

from official Valve Proton

The experience is seamless, and if it wasn't for the pop-up that inform you the game runs thru Proton the 1st time you install it and start it , u wouldn't even know it's not native. Also if a game i play doesn't work nice with custom GE Proton that has latest updates i can switch the the ones provided by Valve

I play all my games on Linux, in fact beside the Windows allocated SSD all other storage is EXT4 formatted

[msdobrescu]

@1stn00b, how did you peek on my computer? 🙃

 

[Ruben_]

Serif, please. Windows has gone down the drain. Davinci Resolve runs on Linux. With Affinity we'd have a complete professional software stack for multimedia creation on linux, free of subscription based nonsense. It would mean the world to us.

[Renzatic]

39 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

You don't need SteamOS to run games under Linux. You just install Steam, Lutris, Bottles,  etc and you are good to go, unless you own an Nvidia GPU

Nvidia GPUs don't really have any problem in Linux, besides flaky Wayland compatibility, and having to go a little above and beyond to install the drivers for them. I don't think I've used the Hide Nvidia GPU proton flag once in my entire life.

[MattyWS]

On 7/2/2022 at 9:09 AM, 1stn00b said:

Made a video of running Affinity Photo on my Fedora Workstation 36 thru Bottles

Sorry for lower quality just installed OBS Studio Flatpak and run the auto-configuration wizard at start.

 

 

You mentioned you would rather not use it in this state as it's stressful but at least it's seemingly fully featured. This goes a really long way. I'm glad it seems possible now and this gives me hope that Wine devs can bring this up to standard.

I wonder if Serif would allow people with MS Store purchases to transfer their licenses to use the downloadable installation from their store (or maybe we already can?). Either way if I have to buy it again from their website after it works perfectly on Linux I definitely will. ^^

[walt.farrell]

2 minutes ago, MattyWS said:

I wonder if Serif would allow people with MS Store purchases to transfer their licenses to use the downloadable installation from their store (or maybe we already can?).

No.

 

[MattyWS]

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

No.

 

Ah, oh well it's ok, an extra £150 to get a full suite is no big deal. I'll just repurchase from the website once it works well enough via wine. Probably my own fault for relying on the windows store too much a few years prior

[1stn00b]

If u run it thru Wine u use the Windows license you already have, the same way u wouldn't pay to run it in a Windows VM. When Serif launches a Linux version then yes we can talk about another OS that they can charge for.

[walt.farrell]

23 minutes ago, 1stn00b said:

If u run it thru Wine u use the Windows license you already have, the same way u wouldn't pay to run it in a Windows VM. When Serif launches a Linux version then yes we can talk about another OS that they can charge for.

The problem that @MattyWS has, I think, is getting his Microsoft Store version of the Affinity applications installed to run under Wine. It is reasonably clear how to get an Affinity Store version installed: just run the installer under Wine.

But you don't normally get an installer for the Microsoft Store applications.

[ShadeOn]

@1stn00b , sry to disappoint you, but I can speak at the level of my team that we researched in this topic.

If you use in virtual machine Windows as OS , then it's needed a Windows xp/7/8/10/11 license.  If it's a Linux distribution, FreeBSD , then no.

In Wine isn't needed any license of the OS that it's trying to imitate for the applications to run.

I personally had my cup of tea with Windows since old 95's days onward and after the forced updates in the 10 was the limit, and on 11 forcing to change hardware even if previous OS versions didn't have any problem with it (it only was slower ofc). Currently am using Windows and Linux depending on what is needed. (I preferably work mostly on Linux Ubuntu which has some stability and as I researched.. it offers more updates than other distributions, so for companies this is good thing)

At my current client, he asked me to check on software that could convert PDF databases into Excel/Calc and have Windows support and Linux as backup if we need to change the OS if 10 will start "becoming slower" and 11 is out of the idea for hardware before 2018 (and for some reason nowadays if you install Win 10 or 11, you need the SSD drives.. the classic ones aren't "optimized" anymore). 

For the results, we found that Wondershare has good software for Windows, but not for Linux, and Able2Extract has same (or better results) and has a Windows and Linux variant.

The Linux variant for .deb has known bugs at 20.04 and 22.04 but the developers cooperate and I asked them to keep me updated cause they have a better chance to win and be a "go to out of the box variant" of PDF converter for Linux. They have and a .rpm variant but didn't check how it works there, since the company wants Debian or Ubuntu later. (and yes..this is a proprietary software, but as long as it works or has a windows variant functional until at linux is repaired (or we will use 16.04 or 18.04) we're good and can sleep better tonight for the day of tomorrow)

Mostly at this client, they only work with excels and need to manipulate images. The Libre Calc and MS Excel (from how much we use similar functions) are compatible and all is fine while under the .xlsx format. But as I understood from 1 or 2 articles a few months ago, MS wants with Office 2021 variant, it's primary format to be changed to the odt one (or something similar).

The Calc has better productivity in adding information and go faster at desired sheet , while Excel still is better at adding simultaneously more than 1 images and manipulate them at same time before hitting "Enter" and has better productivity there. Calc unfortunately has only 1 image upload at a time but has more options on how to manipulate it.

 

[1stn00b]

Serif software licenses have nothing to do with Microsoft software licenses. Your super specific use case scenario doesn't have anything to do with this topic. 

I ask you not to continue with a river of text explaining that because "PDF Databases" don't work for you is the reason Serif doesn't offer a Linux version of their software.

 

 

[ShadeOn]

Indeed, Serif Affinity suite has it's own licenses

Microsoft Office has it's own license

Microsoft's Windows OS has it's own license

The difference is.. you don't need Windows OS license to use Microsoft Office, but you need Microsoft Office license to use them legally if you have a company and clients use them most. The fact that Libre Office and other similar ones (even payable ones) try to help out with compatibility regarding MS file formats and filling a existing gap is welcoming.

 

"I ask you not to continue with a river of text explaining that because "PDF Databases" don't work for you is the reason Serif doesn't offer a Linux version of their software."

I don't mind if Serif doesn't have their native client on Linux truth be told. I, as some others here, would like at least in Wine to work out and that's why I joined in to give my vote for the limited software options existing in a OS of choice.

To be honest, I think Serif Team are right on not planning a release for Linux (at least in this current situation) because they chose to have unique libraries to stick to a OS, instead of creating personal libraries multi-platform in the 1st place years ago, and because the majority of them voted for this, they have bugs to solve with 2 different but similar technology so to say.. . As being in this situation, we adapt and Wine is a safe bet today.

But as others mentioned, we just offer our gratitude here and our votes, but always the developers have last word and decision when they are ready to move into new green fields ; and until then.. we use Affinity in Windows (or Mac), or equivalent/similar and still try out sometimes on Wine if either sides did more progress. 

Most of us can have hope now that it's already in a alpha functional state and can progress. By Wine's ratings, I could rate this as Bronze because it can be installed, start-up works, and playing around with some functions. Silver is when there are no more glitches and less crashes , Gold is when 99% works, and Platinum is when 99% works at minimum and can get to near native Windows app equivalent speed.

 

Regarding the licenses from Microsoft Software Center and independent downloadable client from main developer website , this has been same situation to other software or games.

One of them which I use is the game called Guild Wars 2. They have a downloadable client, and they have plans to launch a Microsoft software center one (or Steam), and licenses from each of these are independent.

Plus there is same thing that happens to this game client similar to Affinity's case : the one from software center/Steam can't be installed on Linux, but the one from developer's website can be installed through Crossover or Playonlinux.

This is because it's mainly built for Windows environment (and had a Mac version too, but they dropped it a few years ago because they couldn't keep it up with Apple's changing plans). But they are known to the community that 1 or 2 developers remained after 2006 (or something in this year area after release of GW1 ) to help out with bugs (or hints) that Wine team couldn't solve to make it most playable (and no guarantees whatsoever, those of us who try to use it on Wine are doing on our own risk which we accepted from the very beginning)

 

[melina]

On 7/2/2022 at 2:45 PM, Frozen Death Knight said:

Question to Linux users, what's the Linux equivalent of Windows Ink/WinTab API for drawing with tablets? How well supported are Wacom tablets?

(sorry I'm a bit late to answer this) I have a Wacom Intuos5 touch M which works just fine on Linux Mint. The *only* issue when I moved the tablet from Windows to Linux a year ago was programming the ring modes beyond mode #1. However, updates to the my desktop's drawing tablet gui since made it very easy. There is more information about the drawing tablet interface project here https://linuxwacom.github.io.

[wonderings]

On 7/4/2022 at 3:20 AM, 1stn00b said:

Serif software licenses have nothing to do with Microsoft software licenses. Your super specific use case scenario doesn't have anything to do with this topic. 

I ask you not to continue with a river of text explaining that because "PDF Databases" don't work for you is the reason Serif doesn't offer a Linux version of their software.

 

 

There are basically 4 ways of buying for desktop computers. You can buy from the Windows store, or you can by directly from Serif for Windows. This needs distinction, the Windows version of Affinity is bought in 2 ways. Buying from the Windows store has its limitations as you can only install it with the Windows store. If you buy the Windows version from Affinity you get the downloadable installer and have to register the product yourself (Windows store handles that). Same thing on a Mac, you can buy through the Apple App store or direct from Serif. So yes software licenses do have something to do with Microsoft and their app store.