Adobe no Linux people no Linux Adobe no Linux people no …

This deadlock needs breaking. I’m looking at you Adobe.

 

How a deadlock looks like IRL.

How a deadlock looks like IRL. Illustration via http://csunplugged.org/

 

Many creative people haven’t switched from Windows to macOS because Adobe’s creative suite is not available on Linux. If Adobe would decide to start developing for Linux that would probably unlock this deadlock and Linux’s share would see an immediate bump.

People would usually search for alternatives only if they were using Windows and suffering on a daily basis. But with the 2016 keynote from Apple announcing the new Mac Book Pros and the lack of a powerful desktop alternative, folks have started looking elsewhere there too (elementary OS reports that here).

So if Adobe would bite the bullet, just like Valve did with Steam and the Steam Machine, perhaps then the the tables would really turn. Many smaller, more modern companies, are releasing software for all three systems. Atom, Spotify, Telegram, Fusion, Blender, Lightworks, Vectr, Skype, just to name a few off the top of my head.

Another possible scenario for the creative crew to jump ship and start using great OS alternatives such as Ubuntu, elementary OS or Mint, would be if new comers challenging Adobe such as Sketch and Zeplin would start deploying Linux versions. (Hat tip to designer friend Tiago for this insight).

So, who will make the first move?

(Discussion around this article takes place not only here but also on Twitter and Reddit.)

(Edit on the 18th Nov. 2016: added Vectr to the list of cross-platform tools for modern creatives.)

5 Responses to “Adobe no Linux people no Linux Adobe no Linux people no …”

    • Fred Rocha

      That’s really interesting, Scott.

      Would you be willing to commit with the same cost / subscription fee you’re paying now for the Adobe suite?

      Do you have a specific distro you’d favour for your daily use?

      Reply
    • Sher

      I would completely remove windows 10 from my system if Adobe CC apps are available on Linux…It is not impossible to make some efforts and release on Linux too. Blackmagicdesign , Valve, The Foundry , SideFX ….have already proven that…most probably “Ad” is refraining from supporting Linux out of its love for “MS”.

      Reply
  1. Carlos

    I guess Adobe is only interested in real money real soon. They could easily make a Linux port. It would actually be easier than with other apps you mention.
    Sketch is one of a new breed of MacOS apps that use native MacOS toolkit libraries. Any port would require porting those libraries first. That’s a huge amount of work, and the threshold to a world of pain. My guess is you won’t see a port of any of those apps to Linux anytime soon.
    As for Atom and many other apps that don’t require big resources (I suspect Spotify and Skype are some of those) are in turn web apps built on webview-based frameworks such as Electron (https://github.com/electron/electron), so they are inherently multi-platform.
    Real heavy-duty cross-platform applications have always been built in C/C++. But unless you have built them in C from the onset, it’s a nightmare to port.

    Reply
    • Fred Rocha

      If one doesn’t build with cross-platform in mind from day one, one really needs to be Adobe to make the port later. I can understand that.

      Shame that newer apps are boxed-in to macOS and / or Windows. Seems short-sighted to me.

      Reply

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