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Let's crowdfund Affinity designer and photo for linux!


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Here's an amazing idea. Let's crowdfund Affinity Designer and Photo for Linux!

This is a huge "what if" scenario. What if Serif were interested in developing a linux version if they already knew that a sufficient amount of users would buy it? Then why not crowdfund it?.. If thousands of linux "nerds" who only use the computer for hacking and coding and never designing (irony intended) would pledge the needed amount, Serif could just wait until the goal is met and then start developing? If not, all backers can get their money back, nothing lost, nothing gained. 

I'd be willing to pay and I'm sure others would too. If there aren't enough linux nerds, the goal won't be met, if there are, who needs graphs showing estimated numbers, we would have facts and money to back it up. Serif could even do it as a test without any promises. Backers can promise money if they decide to go for it but should they choose not to, no hard feelings. As long as they are clear with their intentions. I can say right now that I'd be willing to pay quite a bit more for a linux version than for the mac and windows version if that's what it takes.

If you think this is a good idea, please "heart" the post or quote it or whatever so that we can be noticed =) 

crowdfundit.jpg

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I like the idea!

Before opening the topic I somehow assumed you already haw set up a gofundme/kickstarter/whatever page. 

You know Serif estimated once 500.000€ if I remember corectly. So you have a target.

A reaction to your post is no real commitment to actually pay. The real campaign is.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

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That's great news. I have never started a page/campaign and thought it would be a rude thing to do without the permission of Serif, and also that it might be appropriate for them to choose if they even welcome such a campaign. But if they already have set an estimate, maybe that's what we should do! Anyone else who has any thoughts, please tell. 

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Hi, I have asked for a Linux version myself and it has been explained in detail why Affinity won't do it.

In the meanwhile, I was rewarded by RawTherapee team and contributors with support for my camera and suddenly I have an ACR alternative! My lack of education made me say RT is not good enough, but I didn't know it needed actually my support in form of some profiling raw files. I am sorry to say, but it's too late for me to join.

However, I wish you all 'Good luck!'!

 

Best Regards,

Mike

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7 minutes ago, luvis said:

I have never started a page/campaign and thought it would be a rude thing to do without the permission of Serif, and also that it might be appropriate for them to choose if they even welcome such a campaign.

Yes, of course you are right here. But I was thinking you started the topic in the context of knowing that Serif has no interest in Linux.

They already think that it will not pay back. I would be surprised if they start a funding on their own because they think it will fail.

So your attempt could have been "Serif,  Please see this funding campaign which is nearly over and has the money you want. I am here to prove you wrong. Will you take the money and do it or shall I cancel the campaign?"

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

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2 minutes ago, msdobrescu said:

Hi, I have asked for a Linux version myself and it has been explained in detail why Affinity won't do it.

Yes, in the other very long topic they have explained (quite a few times) why they have no interest in developing Linux versions at this time. Funding is only a small part of it, which is why they have rejected the crowd funding idea.

That doesn't mean they will never develop Linux versions, just that they are not going to do so while other things have a higher priority. Since there are many of them, don't expect Linux versions any time soon.

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1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Yes, in the other very long topic they have explained (quite a few times) why they have no interest in developing Linux versions at this time. Funding is only a small part of it, which is why they have rejected the crowd funding idea.

That doesn't mean they will never develop Linux versions, just that they are not going to do so while other things have a higher priority. Since there are many of them, don't expect Linux versions any time soon.

Actually, I don't care anymore as I have found the right tools for me on Linux.

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Well.. I've been thinking. I/we could start a campaign (maybe) without using serifs approval. the approach would be. "Anyone who is interested in backing our community campaign towards convincing Serif to develop programs for linux". If convincing them fails, all money is returned, if it succeeds, all the money goes directly to Serif. Does anyone know if this would be a legally ok approach? And if so, the best place to do it? Since I have been made aware that they are not interested at the moment, maybe this would intrigue? ..If there was available funding. At least they will know if it's even remotely worth it. They can't say they don't have a supportive, active and very willing community at least. I can't imagine them getting angry about it? Anyway, please tell me your opinions and if there is a descent amount of interest, I'll see about starting a campaign and post about it here.

Thanks for the feedback and info so far.

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8 minutes ago, luvis said:

Well.. I've been thinking. I/we could start a campaign (maybe) without using serifs approval. the approach would be. "Anyone who is interested in backing our community campaign towards convincing Serif to develop programs for linux". If convincing them fails, all money is returned, if it succeeds, all the money goes directly to Serif. Does anyone know if this would be a legally ok approach? And if so, the best place to do it? Since I have been made aware that they are not interested at the moment, maybe this would intrigue? ..If there was available funding. At least they will know if it's even remotely worth it. They can't say they don't have a supportive, active and very willing community at least. I can't imagine them getting angry about it? Anyway, please tell me your opinions and if there is a descent amount of interest, I'll see about starting a campaign and post about it here.

Thanks for the feedback and info so far.

As said I was thinking this was your idea all along.

Just don't use logos or other copyrighted stuff and make clear that you are not Serif. 

Than I would legally see no problems.

But as said several times before it may not be only the money. It could also not fit well into their roadmap.

I expect no Linux version anymore after reading all the discussions.

Windows 10 Pro x64 (1903). Intel Core i7-9700K @ 3.60GHz, 32 GB memory, NVidia RTX 2080
Affinity Photo 1.7.2.471, Affinity Designer 1.7.2.471, Affinity Publisher 1.7.2.471

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I am not sure how someone outside Serif would get the money to them if the crowdsourcing ends successfully (that is, goal met). You will end up with the grand total in that case, and if Serif doesn't want it you should make sure that you have a way to get it back to the donors. Once the effort succeeds, I'm not sure the crowdfunding sites have a way to return the money.

Ideally, you would ask Serif first. If they say no, then don't bother.

 

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So I've been in contact with Serif and here's the verdict. 

While I do appreciate the offer it would not be worth the time crowd funding as we have no plans to offer our software for Linux users.

So is not likely that they will consider Linux applications even if they had the funds... as many have already said, but I was hoping it wasn't true.. 

 

So this seems like a worthless endeavor. 

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Hello Peoples!

Happy to read this.
Well i would advice you better go crowdfund AKIRA which is targeting to be the first Linux Design software (100% dedicated) and then from that act ask the dev team of AKIRA to make it possible to work on multiple file format including Affinity file format and make their format readable and usable with Affinity thus making AKIRA a good mate.

You can learn more about AKIRA here : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alecaddd/akira-the-linux-design-tool

Blessing !

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7 hours ago, Uncle Mez said:

Hello Peoples!

Happy to read this.
Well i would advice you better go crowdfund AKIRA which is targeting to be the first Linux Design software (100% dedicated) and then from that act ask the dev team of AKIRA to make it possible to work on multiple file format including Affinity file format and make their format readable and usable with Affinity thus making AKIRA a good mate.

You can learn more about AKIRA here : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alecaddd/akira-the-linux-design-tool

Blessing !

I'm obviously all up for supporting a project like this but there is absolutely no information in the video telling me what this application is, what it will look like, what it can do. If he is a designer, there should at least be a few sneak peaks on the gui right? Also, most people are probably not willing to back up a project when you don't actually get anything for it. Honestly if it was going to be a licensed product where backers receive a special lifetime of upgrades or something like that whereas others would have to pay for it, I think the sum would be more easily met. 

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On 1/30/2019 at 8:54 AM, luvis said:

So I've been in contact with Serif and here's the verdict. 

While I do appreciate the offer it would not be worth the time crowd funding as we have no plans to offer our software for Linux users.

So is not likely that they will consider Linux applications even if they had the funds... as many have already said, but I was hoping it wasn't true.. 

Still haven't heard from Serif if they know or are willing to investigate the dependencies in the Windows version that cause WINE to choke. So while I'm not sure if it's about a trivial thing or half the software, perhaps they are willing to work towards WINE compatibility (for a price).

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54 minutes ago, Redsandro said:

Still haven't heard from Serif if they know or are willing to investigate the dependencies in the Windows version that cause WINE to choke. So while I'm not sure if it's about a trivial thing or half the software, perhaps they are willing to work towards WINE compatibility (for a price).

You know now that might just be in Serif best interest.

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Hello,

Has anyone tried running Affinity in a virtual environment like Virtual Box or VMWare.  I ran my old Apple on Lion 10.7 on Ubuntu once to see how it would go, but not enough memeory.  You need at least 8GB preferably 16GB would be better.  I don't have High Sierra so can not try.  I have heard that people have had OSX High Sierra running on Linux using virtual running Xcode (Hackintosh) which so I understand is a clone of High Sierra, without the problems.  Any one used this out there yet?

https://www.pcsteps.com/2157-mac-os-x-virtual-machine-vmware-player/

I am extremely busy at the moment and absolutely no time to experiment, but I would be interested if anybody wants to try and has problems, I can help with tech.

 

Thank you,

Skyhigh

 

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Two weeks ago I installed Linux on my laptop.... That reminded me why I gave up on Linux a while ago .... I can understand why a Linux version will never see the light. I'm sure that funding is not the main reason and it will not change anything. But I understand peoples hoping for a Linux version.

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On 2/1/2019 at 12:53 AM, luvis said:

I'm obviously all up for supporting a project like this but there is absolutely no information in the video telling me what this application is, what it will look like, what it can do.

They show how their program looks like but its agreeable, their kickstarter is currently sparse with visual information which they should change.
Since kickstarter doesn`t allow payment options besides credit-cards, they are further limiting the pool of potential backers.

Akira is going to be a UX designer - quick UI prototyping software which they have compared in an interview to Sketch, Adobe XD and Figma.
Looking at those mentioned tools, Akira sounds like a great option for those which don`t have macs, dislike subscriptions or cloud/browser based tools.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, so I've been thinking again =)
There have been a few suggestions of wine compatibility. And I remembered that there's a company called Codeweavers who make "Crossover Office" for any one who's familiar. It's payed wine software where they work hard on porting popular software like photoshop, office and others. I noticed that they do porting jobs for a price so I contacted them and asked if they would be willing to work on getting the affinity range working. Here's the response.

"Thank you for your interest in our services.  This is something that we would be happy to assist you with.  However, the beginning costs for us to do this kind of work begin at $9,000, which in most cases, doesn't provide an end solution..  After the initial $9,000, there would be future costs of $200/hour to address the full compatibility issues that may be present.  If this is something you are interested in pursuing, I can provide you with some further clarification on how this process would work.  Let me know if you have any further questions, as I look forward to your response."

Obviously I don't have $9,000. But it's definitely less than 500,000 pounds. So it should be fairly easy to fund together if we are several people interested. I know 9,000 won't cover it but It's a start. Is anyone interested in this option?

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1 hour ago, luvis said:

Obviously I don't have $9,000. But it's definitely less than 500,000 pounds. So it should be fairly easy to fund together if we are several people interested. I know 9,000 won't cover it but It's a start. Is anyone interested in this option?

Have you forgotten that Serif say they are not interested and they certainly will not give away the code.

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https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=37541
Photoshop CC 2019 seems to work with a workaround on Linux builds.

Sketchbook (with Affinity Suite usage) | timurariman.com | gumroad.com/myclay
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