Adobe, Linux Support, and the Linux Foundation.

Hi MesumHussain & Everyone Else,

You have some interesting ideas. Let's discuss some of them.

I like the idea of Google Android and Adobe.. but Google's policies and
practices are obviously /not/ what I or many others would want to bother
with.  I'll be interested to see what comes of it if there's progress
though!

*Is Adobe /much/ less relevant?*

I love Da Vinci Resolve, Krita, Scribus, Audacity, and many other apps
that compete with Adobe. I'm glad you've found alternatives that work
for you, MesumHussain.

That said, everyone is different, and despite your reasonable view
point.... There are a /lot/ of reasons to use Adobe software over
competitors, and /none/ of the reasons most people use and want Adobe
have anything to do with age or general recalcitrance. /Many/ "older IT
nerds" have tried more "new software" over the years than most members
of your generation. We love new software, but we also value the
reliability, independence, control, and often substantially higher
capabilities of locally installed apps. That's not something we see a
lot of in cloud based apps... and in many cases, it's getting worse...
even with Adobe's offerings.

The reasons most people I know use use Adobe include:

1. In most professional/corporate media situations, where collaborators
/expect/ Adobe files or complete Adobe compatibility... none of the
software you've listed would be acceptable. In order to get work,
you are /expected/ to work collaboratively with whatever software
the /company/ uses to save time and avoid issues. Most companies
still use Adobe.
2. I agree that there's definitely a global and technological push
toward the increased use of cloud-based apps (or "software as a
service", otherwise known as SAAS).  Some of it probably
/is/ eroding Adobe's stranglehold over the industry. However, in
contrast to point one,//there are many places, many work-related
issues/requirements, and many regulatory reasons where connection
speeds are too slow, the required bandwidth too high, or policies in
place that prohibit the use of pure cloud apps in an efficient and
profitable manner. A local app is the /only/ way many people can get
the job at hand, /done./
3. Say what you want about a lot of other software, I love DXO Photolab
and Capture One for raw processing, Affinity for subscription free
image editing that has features I can't find in DarkTable/GIMP,
Zerene for focus stacking, and Photomatix for HDR work. For my hobby
work, any of these apps are perfectly fine. I use Reaper instead of
Audition because I like the features of Reaper more. Yet, Adobe apps
still have several /unique/ features which many people use /all/ the
time. I also think that Adobe is what many people of
/all/ generations, are trained to use. Some people just don't have
the time to spare right now to try each and every alternative for
each and every feature found in Adobe. That's hardly the implied
"oldies are set in their ways" rationale I interpreted from your
comments. If I'm wrong, and you didn't mean that, I'm sorry.

You seem to have interpreted my intentions backwards. Yes, I did ask for
Adobe to consider making a Linux version. However, thread is /more
/about addressing the rising displeasure with Windows' lack of
privacy/security/end user rights, the overpriced hardware of Apple gear,
and giving people an option they /might actually want!/

....Which as stated in my original post includes the combination of:

* A free, private, open source OS that /works /on almost any hardware,
* Affordable /quality/ hardware, and
* The ability to use commercial industrial-standard software when needed.

Schools want it, companies (outside of the IT industry) want it,
individuals who own their computer and reasonably expect to use it they
way /they/ desire... /definitely/ want it. We're already seeing this
with commercial games now running on  SteamOS (Based on Arch Linux), and
the /tripling/ of the total number of active devices using Bazzite which
again is another Linux OS optimized for commercial games. That tripling
of devices happened in just 8 months! Freed from running Windows
bloat... games frequently run /better/ on Linux than Windows,  sometimes
even with /inferior/ hardware. So whether you're aiming for a better
gaming experience, or maximising the performance of existing hardware to
save money... imagine if those benefits could be applied to Adobe software!

I started this thread because I /know/ people need to use Linux for
reasons that are just as important as the reasons people use Adobe
listed above. Yes, you can emulate, dual boot, or virtualise entire
Windows systems to get Adobe to work on Linux-like systems, but it's
tedious, expensive, overly complex, and not to mention, less stable than
native apps. In short, it wastes time and computational resources....
and it would be /great/ if Linux had games /and/ Adobe compatibility.

Giving users from all walks of life the ability to save money, and do
things their own way would be provide competitive advantage to anyone
brave enough to take the Linux challenge up.

I just hope this inspires more discussion, ideas, and hopefully actions
by invested parties.

All the best, everyone, and thanks Mesum for contributing!

Harmo.