P: Provide support for Linux (2011)

Last known press release in 2023 stated that there were over 30 million subscribers for Adobe Creative Cloud. Niche doesn't really apply here.

By @Kevin Stohlmeyer 

Going by numbers alone, Creative Cloud is a niche in the computing world, and Photoshop is a smaller niche within that.

The total number of people on the Internet is said to be somewhere around 5 and half billion users. Yes, that includes desktop and mobile since a large percentage of those are smartphones only, but it’s valid because Adobe sells subscriptions worldwide across desktop and mobile.

30 million Creative Cloud users across a total addressible market of 5.5 billion users is 0.5%, half a percent. That’s definitely a niche number, with Photoshop an even smaller fraction of that.

Within the creative community, yes, the 30 million Creative Cloud and Photoshop subscribers are dominant and not a niche.

Before it comes up, fragmentation in the Linux community is not an issue. Pick a popular version, say, Ubuntu, and stick with it. The Adobe community who wants off Windows and OSX will migrate to it.
By @roc97007 

It’s hard to really know for sure, but it is interesting to see that Linus Torvalds himself claims that fragmentation is an issue:

Linus Torvalds: Fragmentation is Why Desktop Linux Is Behind

For Photoshop specifically, though, you may be right…if Photoshop was released on only one Linux distribution, it does seem likely that a lot of people would just use that one.

adobe's a for-profit corporation.  if you have a proposal that shows their cost of porting to linux would be offset by the many linux users known to purchase software, make your pitch to adobe.

I look at it from a business/ROI standpoint. Adobe unfortunately isn't a charity - they have to answer to shareholders.

The cost of developing and supporting an OS with a maximum adoption of less than 2% (and that would be if everyone on Linux bought Creative Cloud) is a non-starter.

There isn't enough customer base to even start the discussion, even with passionate users like yourselves. The reality speaks for itself. If Linux suddenly had greater than (guessing) 5-7% of market share, then perhaps Adobe and other companies would take notice for developing an untapped income stream.

Yeah, but the Adobe future is port all softwares to mobile/browser, then it will be supported by all the systems.

The thing is, im the person who only uses Windows because of Adobe and nothing more. Why Adobe cant do a research to target these people? "Whould you use Linux if there was Adobe softwares support?"  This would open a new perspective above this market shares.

North America OS market shares are as follows (as of May 2024):

Windows 30.52%

iOS (Apple) 28.23%

Android 22.45%

Mac OS 12.11 %

Chrome OS 3.41%

Linux 1.77%

Worldwide Linux is only 1.44%

https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share

Apple could still drop 50% and be 5X the size of Linux for user base.

Last known press release in 2023 stated that there were over 30 million subscribers for Adobe Creative Cloud. Niche doesn't really apply here.

linux has made its mark in mobile phones.  otherwise, it has gone nowhere in desktop os'es in the past 30 years.  give it another few decades and it might near 10% of market share, but probably not.

As of last year, Linux hit 4% of the global market share while macOS is in decline.

By @Jennifer3144145748u5 

Those market share numbers may be for the market in general, which includes general business offices, hospitals, governments, and factories. But the market share numbers that matter in this thread are people who are willing to pay for a subscription for advanced creative photography software. The last published numbers I saw for Photoshop were a few years ago, but they were much closer to 50/50% Windows/Mac.

This mistake is made often, and it’s not how things are done. A specific developer actually pays attention to the income potential for their specific market, not for general markets including those that their software is not relevant to. Assuming the important market share percentage for macOS is the general 4% figure, when it is actually closer to 50% in this Photoshop market, could represent a major miscalculation as to where the market potential really is. A mistake that big is to be avoided.

For example, although iOS share of users is significantly lower than Android worldwide, many developers favor iOS because its worldwide share of app revenue has traditionally been larger than Android despite having fewer users.

I’m not against a Linux version. If they make one, I will cheer along with you! I’m just saying that we should have a proper understanding of the numbers Adobe is actually concerned with. The question they would ask here is what is the income potential of Linux vs Windows vs macOS in the Photoshop market specifically.

Another issue might be which Linux distributions to support. I don’t work for Adobe but if they see one Linux distribution as too small to support, but they see multiple Linux distributions are too much work to support, that might be another reason they back off.

And a reminder to be careful what you wish for. What many Linux users want is Photoshop as a standalone app they can install like other Linux apps. What Adobe is currently doing on all supported platforms (desktop, mobile, web) is installing the app plus a large number of additional background processes needed to tie that app (like Photoshop) to many Creative Cloud online services including Adobe Fonts, HTML servers for content, cloud servers for AI features, etc. Creative Cloud Libraries, Cloud Documents, license validation, and so on. These additional background processes constantly communicate with Adobe servers, and run even if Photoshop is not running. For some Linux users, this goes against the lean, simple, offline way they want to run their computers, and it also means Photoshop cannot be a “portable” app (won’t run off a USB stick) because there are too many background processes that are installed on and run from the system volume.

Sounds like an opinion that is not shared by 96% of computer users. Linux is great for some things but superior to macOS? Not a chance. As for "macOS is in decline", then why does Apple have the number one selling line of portable computers?

Photoshop on Linux would be a huge money-loser if it was even possible.

Adobe needs to support Linux again. As of last year, Linux hit 4% of the global market share while macOS is in decline. Programmers and Developers dominate the linux market, yes, and they build games, and often that includes graphic design. Here is a link showing the numbers https://itsfoss.com/linux-market-share/ 

I am constantly disappointed in adobe for their refusal to support linux. I'm tired of giving you my money when you don't reward innovation. Linux as a pc is better than macOS and Windows in every single way for the enduser, professional or casual. You'd think with the constant requests, Adobe would catch the hint. I'm very sorry, but unless something changes soon, I'll have to go. I know my little 60 a month isn't any big deal for the corporate bigboys and bottom line cranks, but why pay for something I don't have access to bc it is designed to work on substandard OSes? And Adobe won't even support Firefox for it's web based apps. Incredible.