Acrobat reader for Linux

[Korzennik]

Is there any hope to see Adobe resume supporting Linux and offer a 64b Acrobat Reader?

You can't claim PDF to be portable once you dropped support for one of the main OS. If you can build it for Android, why can't you be bothered to build it for Linux?

[try67]

I highly doubt it. The format is portable, but building an application for any OS that can open it is very time- and resource-consuming. Adobe just decided it's not worth developing this tool for the Linux environment, but others are free to do so, as the PDF format is a public ISO now.

[Korzennik]

The point is that (1) Adobe introduced PDF w/ the promise to offer a free readers for all platforms (2) they had a Linux version, keeping it is not the same as porting to another OS. As for resources, they are making a ton of dough w/ their s/w so I doubt it's a matter of $$. Like for most tools, I like to have/use the one build by the creator. Other PDF renders have their shortcomings.

[Test Screen Name]

"portable" is in the name now, and Adobe gave up control of the format over a decade ago. Adobe don't have to claim anything. Indeed, they don't have to make any kind of PDF reader, and it remains portable. I thought the open source software that came with Linux was great, why do you want Adobe's reader too?

[Korzennik]

Because the other renders (xpdf, evince, okular, chrome built-in) are sub-par - the Adobe reader ought to support all(most) of the features, including signing, annotating, etc....

Also, just think how many Linux servers Adobe must be using for theur business (dev and op) whether directly (in house) or indirectly (on the cloud) - yet they choose to "steal" from the open source others labor and give nothing back.

That's my beef.

It woudl be enlightening to hear from Adobe...

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

@Korzennik,

To simply answer your question, don't count on it, unless something very dramatic occurs to make desktop use of Linux even begin to approach usage of Windows or even MacOS!

Adobe never committed to providing a version of any of its applications in perpetuity for any particular operating system or version thereof and providing support for same. Decisons as to which operating systems and versions of same to support are based on an analysis of potential returns on investment. The “free” Adobe Acrobat Reader is provided as an “entry point” for licensing other products such as Acrobat Standard (Windows), Acrobat Pro, and various add-on services on iOS and Android (Android is not Linux). Quite frankly, there was simply not enough interest in Adobe Reader, Acrobat or any other Adobe document or graphic arts applications under Linux where many if not most users expect applications to be “free” or at a much lower price point than for Windows and MacOS. There are considerable costs involved for a “free” reader product including not only development, but testing and especially support; in the case of Linux, this includes the multiple versions and distributions of same.

Don't make assumptions about what type of servers Adobe is using for internal purposes. Hint: for many if not most of our web-based PDF services services, we are certainly not using Linux.

Note that these communities are not a direct access to Adobe's product groups. If you want to make a formal request for Acrobat products (Reader or otherwise), make such a request at Acrobat UserVoice.