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Affinity for Linux


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Just now, j0e.org said:

none of them are issues.

If you think that, then, respectfully, I don't think you understand the complexities of commercial software development for complex products.

-- Walt
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23 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

If you think that, then, respectfully, I don't think you understand the complexities of commercial software development for complex products.

This was what Andy Sommerfield said:

 

Quote

 

I won't rule out making a Linux version of Affinity, but I need someone to show me a combination of distro, desktop topology and deployment (paid) platform where we would recoup our development costs. If someone can show me that, I'll be willing to talk some more about it all..

 

Hope this helps,

 

AndyS 

 

You are not saying nothing that Andy didn't say before and not even understanding the purpose of this discussion. Yes, it won't likely increase the chances of seeing Affinity in Linux. But the purpose of the discussion is exactly to present the combination of distro/DE/platform where those costs that you talk about could be recouped. Understand?

While you guys may discuss the merits of providing support for Linux or not, I am simply pointing out the venues that would yield the highest chances of commercial success in Linux. I am aware that even so, it is highly doubtful that it would be enough to make it viable in Linux.

Currently, Linux represents 2% of Internet accessing desktops. That's 20% of all Macs. With the advertisement of a commercial software like Affinity I am certain that a sizeable portion of Linux users would show their (financial support) for Affinity, much like they did with the first PC games ported to Linux.

Nevertheless, if by providing this information, Serif at least decides to perform a market analysis to evaluate this possibility - or ask Canonical for more information/support - I'll be more than happy.

Edited by Rosmaninho
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1 hour ago, Rosmaninho said:

Nevertheless, if by providing this information, Serif at least decides to perform a market analysis to evaluate this possibility ...

It seems extremely unlikely that Serif has not already done extensive market research regarding recouping their development & their other ongoing costs for Linux versions of the Affinity apps, including distribution methods, financing, & everything else that would make it profitable enough for them to consider.

Besides, in this long topic this is not the first or only suggestion about which distribution method(s) would be best -- there isn't even a strong consensus about that.

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As some times, due to the amount of information, people gets to see only one of the several threads that are talking about basically the same matter, I thought I'd link here a post from a Serif's staff member, just 6 hours ago, about this whole thing :
 

 

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On 1/27/2019 at 3:39 PM, walt.farrell said:

If you think that, then, respectfully, I don't think you understand the complexities of commercial software development for complex products.

thing is, cross deployment/releases to multiple OS can be somewhat easy - depending on where and on what you work in and on, its for sure advertised often enough ;)as just having to set up the IDE and the compiler.   Please don`t be too harsh on others which haven`t  had the enjoyment of fighting IDEs and compilers and the need to crosscheck every tiny feature.

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4 minutes ago, myclay said:

thing is, cross deployment/releases to multiple OS can be somewhat easy - depending on where and on what you work in and on, its for sure advertised often enough ;)as just having to set up the IDE and the compiler.   Please don`t be too harsh on others which haven`t  had the enjoyment of fighting IDEs and compilers and the need to crosscheck every tiny feature.

I would tend to believe that Walt was referring mostly to the business side of it, the large implications, costs, etc. Rather than solely the technical side of it.  ( not sure also if after started and evolved so  mucch such deep and large projects like a very complex and optimized graphic engine like this and  entire set of apps around it, using quite specific libraries (.net being one of the things), would be too much fun and joy for them, right now (opposed to have been doing it from start, as many open source projects do, today). Mostly, if that titanic effort pays what it would cost... (IMO, surely in the line of what Walt was talking about... )

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50 minutes ago, myclay said:

thing is, cross deployment/releases to multiple OS can be somewhat easy ...

And it also can be quite difficult, particularly if optimized performance for each supported platform & OS variant is a priority. The Mac apps are their oldest Affinity products & only recently, after about four years have they managed to improve Metal performance in Photos for Mac, & as yet only in the beta. There are still issues yet to be worked out in the Windows versions as well, & part of that is probably because there are many more hardware configurations to support. Likewise, there are a few Mac OS Mojave issues that still need to be resolved, & on the Windows side certain somewhat restrictive requirements for Affinity to run properly on Windows 7.

So for Linux, it is not unreasonable to think there would be quite a few more performance related tweaks that would need considerable time & effort to complete before those apps were ready for the retail market. 

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I'm going to give my two cents here, even though I may just be repeating stuff other people have said.
I think that Serif should capitalize on the linux market as soon as they can before Adobe releases anything, for maximum profit. Otherwise, the moment adobe releases their apps to Linux (and they will, at some point, linux has been growing relentlessly at a higher pace than windows, even though it might still be behind in some aspects) Serif is already going to be 2nd place, again. If it's the cost then you could unofficially support linux by making it compatible with Wine (atm the installer itself needs some windows libraries and even following this tutorial:

you still can't create/edit documents). Since it's linux we're talking about we don't necessarily need a readily-available .deb or what-not to use affinity on our linux machines, just the compatibility that even Adobe doesn't have atm (their most recent version that works on linux is CS5 I think). Looking at this from a "replace some proprietary libraries" standpoint might lower the cost considerably compared to rewriting the app from the ground up to work on linux. I personally sure hope Serif will consider porting Affinity to linux in the near future, as this is the only reason I have not fully switched to linux.

 

Edit: In terms of deployment and payment, Elementary OS' app store has some rudimentary payment system, so you could try that.

Mădălin Vlad
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On 1/28/2019 at 3:35 PM, R C-R said:

It seems extremely unlikely that Serif has not already done extensive market research regarding recouping their development & their other ongoing costs for Linux versions of the Affinity apps, including distribution methods, financing, & everything else that would make it profitable enough for them to consider.

Besides, in this long topic this is not the first or only suggestion about which distribution method(s) would be best -- there isn't even a strong consensus about that.

You are constantly repeating yourself throughout this thread. We already know your stance and I am perfectly aware of all of this.

I won't stop providing information every now and again though.

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2 hours ago, Rosmaninho said:

You are constantly repeating yourself throughout this thread.

There is nothing in this long thread that has not been repeated over & over by multiple people. But despite that Serif has made it very clear that they have no plans to offer Linux versions.

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  • 2 weeks later...

for what reason exactly? i think it is a well known secret, that adobe won't do this because microsoft 'wishes' so, there is really no reason not to do this with all the ideas people had around here.

 

Quote

+1 for linux, I have not been using anything else besides this for years, so have lots of people around me - also I know designers, print studios and even professional print studios who really would switch to linux immediately, if adobe software would run with it.

you have one possible advantage here that could change the entire market.

also for me a native (non-wine) release of any serif's software is an instabuy, especially AD, including myself + colleagues I work with.

 

saying that: reconsider your decision, it is not super-hard, and will surely not cost 500k. you basically need to support GTK or preferably QT as the GUI (like .net on windows for example) and hardly more than 2 packaging systems which are rpm and deb, both are practically the same behind the scenes.

any small dev team could port all that, there are lots of GTK/QT-devs out there, just find one or two, employ or just pay them for the job, and let them do it.

 

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14 hours ago, hza said:

 adobe won't do this because microsoft 'wishes' so,

Is there any source (link) for that ?  I mean, no offense, I might have been living in a cave (kind of, indeed....) but is the first time I hear that... I had always heard it was all about numbers (sells).

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It is more like a rumor, since if it was really true, there surely would not be any formal public references for this. however, they do send sometimes someone, like that visit to valve when they started supporting linux, or brasil (I think it was brasil?) when they decided to migrate their public IT to linux.

Really I do not want to start any discussion about this since I really hope it's not the case. So let's rest it there.

I am just sure that porting that would not be thaaat hard and that any decision there would change the market situation, as well as kill depencies many people have, just because of the software they can't use natively, me included. I really want at least 2 of serif's products, having them running in some VM is not an option on the long term.

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5 hours ago, SrPx said:
19 hours ago, hza said:

adobe won't do this because microsoft 'wishes' so,

Is there any source (link) for that ?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-CA/enterprise/microsoft-adobe-enterprise-partnership
https://www.adobe.com/enterprise/microsoft-partnership.html

The Partnership between Microsoft and Adobe is a fact since ~2017 and Microsoft ❤ Linux.

ms_loves_linux.png 

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@chakko007 @j0e.org I think the Linux folk around here are problem solvers and probably know the market better because of their network of Linux using professionals who are all searching for the same solution. At the same time, Windows users here are unbelievably fierce in wanting to have the last word with their unconstructive campaign of repeating a clear "NO" embedded in a nice warm lack of arguments while simultaneously pretending they don't care. I don't quite understand what motivates them so religiously in their calling to stifle any discussion and wishful arguments among Linux users. It's like Scott (Linux user) versus Dr. Evil (Windows user).

 

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Actually, a bunch of those not seeing a linux version as a good idea are Mac users... Shouldn't obsess so much about particularly Windows...

I have not seen "fierce" anything around here, tho, in any of the sides... I mean, I've seen "fierce", in my (RL) life. Let us not exaggerate....

About windows users not caring (am a hybrid OSes user, tho), yup, trust me on that: some of us do not really care. But are allowed to ask questions or take part in a conversation (in other forums the last word (quite solid) of the staff would have closed the  threads, so, I don't know why some users (often license owners) can't give an opinion while the other party can/is allowed....).

I insist that I would like to see a Linux version (not like in as "hoping for it", or "needing it". But as not seeing it as a bad thing) . I just don't see it likely to happen. That someone points out the difficulties and/or reminds the staff statements about it shouldn't be so much (er, "fiercely"?) attacked... (and is not repetition: If someone provides a new idea, twist (and often, repeats the same petition), others can reply to that. It's a forum. You should expect conversation...IMO. )

 

PD : You probably will never believe it, but I, a current Windows user (and more expert in Linux than a bunch of pasional linux defenders here), am kind of sad that the Wine possibility is currently not working.

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@SrPx just because I didn't know it was relevant, I would like to emphasize that I am a license owner too. I'm guessing most Linux users here are, and they are either frustrated with dual booting or stopped dual booting altogether and are frustrated that the software won't even run a bit on WINE.

Yes, my Affinity licenses are gathering dust. I purchased immediately when the Windows version came out as an "encouragement purchase" - secretly hoping/gambling that it would work on a more or lesser extend on WINE. Didn't expect it to run not at all. Not even the installer.

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Old school linux ppl of my generation -me included- used to have several machines at home... Right now I don't, had to sell it to help certain friend. I mean, when you have two machines, is not that big of an issue, as the other one has the other OS, or, as is not the main machine, so to speak, well, wont interrupt the flow even if was doing sth in the background in a Windows....Indeed, in my last stage of having several machines and OSes, that's what I'd typically do... only dual boot the machine less used, not the main one. During earlier years, the second machine only would have linux, several distros. So, no rebooting needed.

But yeah, not everyone has the cash, or the space... Although as linux used to require less machine, it was often the case of just using the less recent machine with some distro, use Windows with the modern one (mostly as Windows would go much slower back in the day in old computers. Today maybe it is that I know too many optimization tricks)

 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Redsandro said:

I wonder if Microsoft paid Affinity $500,000 to not make a Linux version.

Er.... please allow me to strongly doubt that, having even talked to some members by PM. Is not in the way/style of going of this company, by any means. At least in what is reflected in so many of its actions, motto, care, etc. (they've got 30 years of history, have never been a sell out, as the products have always stood by themselves (quality, ease of use, availability of old versions in mag covers, empathy, price).

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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Just now, SrPx said:

Er.... please allow me to strongly doubt that, having even talked to some members by PM. Is not in the way/style of going of this company, by any means. At least in what is reflected in so many of its actions, motto, care, etc.

Just popping in to say that was most definitely sarcasm.

Mădălin Vlad
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1 minute ago, mvlad said:

Just popping in to say that was most definitely sarcasm.

Oh... language barrier or lonely neuron (my issues, I mean).

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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