Adobe for Linux

I am disappointed,as a user of both Linux *and* After Effects that After Effects refuses to run on Linux.

Let’s face it; After Effects, and other applications in the Creative Suite are the most requested applications to be supported by Adobe on Linux.

With a growing market share, and many companies putting in quite a few dollars into supporting it (such as ASUS, and I could name much more), I think that having Adobe apps supported on Linux could be a major plus for not only the Linux, but Adobe.

Let’s face it, the people who work on Linux are geeks. They are people who really work wonders in the computer industry. They are inquisitive and smart people, who have a deep passion for software.

Just because Linux itself is free does not mean that there is not a viable place for software to grow and evolve.

I use Linux because it gives me the control that I want. If something locks sound for other programs? Well, I can lsof /dev/sound and kill the program that is doing it. I want to know *everything* that happens on my computer when it happens? All I have to do is tail -f /var/log/* and move that window to my other screen!

Adobe creates free software, such as the Flash Player, which is Adobe’s most used application – something that is free. Giving the flash viewer away for free creates the need for development kits, such as Adobe Flash to be required, making millions of dollars!

Flash for Linux has been a great thing, I have seen it evolve from the days when it was poorly supported, and you could not play flash files if any other sound application was running, to now where I think it is *almost* better then the Windows version.

IBM for years has said that Linux is ready, and show this in what is my *favorite* ad, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwL0G9wK8j4 released in 2003, announcing to the world that Linux is ready. Its learning and it’s evolving.

Now, those terms have become the present. It has evolved. It has learnt.

I believe that releasing a version of Adobe Creative Suite for Linux could do some really amazing things. It would change the way that people think about Linux.

I, being a person who has many friends who work actively with computers, in many diverse areas knows what the usual response is when you talk to someone about Linux.

Usually, it’s one of two looks. There is the look that says straight away “There is no retail visual effects programs for Linux” or “There is no ‘uber’ professional photo editors for Linux”. The other look is the one of ‘Well, there goes Halo’.

I am of the belief that releasing Adobe for Linux would help it’s market share to grow higher, as it’s a highly available, stable operating system.

Please, think about a version of Adobe CS3 or future versions of the Creative Suite for Linux. It’s not that we want them, but rather, we need them.

The lack of having Adobe After Effects on Linux is *the only* reason I still have Windows on my computer. I don’t want Windows. I dislike it, I hate not being able to have an uptime of more then seven days.

With Linux, I have seen an uptime of around 120 days! Try and do that on Windows!

Linux is ready. Please, see that!

That is the contents of a letter I just wrote to Adobe. Please, if you read this, and you want to help support this cause, drop Adobe an email at one of their ways to contact them, or blog about how you would like to see Adobe supported on Linux.