Professionals left Windows decades ago
Comment on Wine 11 runs Windows apps in Linux and macOS better than ever
Manticore@lemmy.nz 1 day ago
What about software outside of browsers of gaming? Lemmy talks about gaming a lot but it remains to be seen if working professionals are able to leave W11 behind
DillingerEscape@lemmy.world 1 day ago
GalacticSushi@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
IMALlama@lemmy.world 1 day ago
White collar professionals who spend their days developing and deploying software or working on compute infrastructure? Sure, some of them have been on Linux for decades. Although many big corpos love Windows and Microsoft products, so at best you’re going to have a foot in both worlds if you work at one of these companies.
Some admin jobs that don’t require bespoke software (ie very little beyond say an office suite) have started making the jump recently to save $$.
Basically every other white professional that needs to work on a computer with industry specific software like people in medical, engineers, business? Odds are they use windows since the software they use for their job is probably only built for Windows and maybe Mac if they’re lucky. Very few employers are going to mass deploy Linux to run applications via Wine. These employers have support contracts for the major software products their employees use and they won’t get support if they’re not running software on its native OS.
Joelk111@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m a profesional software developer and my employer doesn’t let me use Linux.
Nikelui@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Software outside of gaming usually has native alternatives, so unless you are forced by your employer to use a specific program it is less of an issue (since you are probably also forced to use Windows)
corey931@lemmy.wtf 1 day ago
For music production you sadly only got Ardour and Reaper and I consider neither of them good enough to work professionally and fast workflow in writing sessions, else I’d be over to Linux already
SlumDogGazillionaire@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Sadly I had to abandon Linux as I had no way of getting the pen pressure for a tablet to work for Zbrush 2022. It’s an essential part of my workflow and there’s no Linux native version. Tried Wine and virtually every method possible but still couldn’t get it to work. Dual booting for one piece of software seemed silly. Really unfortunate that this was my deal breaker as I was really enjoying the experience.
merdaverse@lemmy.zip 22 hours ago
For software developers Linux was and is the superior choice. For media based professions (video editing, digital art etc.) there’s still a long way to go. There’s way more choice on Windows and not everything works smoothly through Wine
Syndication@lemmy.today 1 day ago
I can’t speak for other programs, but for example, Photoshop runs under wine mostly. The issue is certain features like the content aware tool are locked behind the stupid Adobe Creative Cloud BS and is reported to have issues depending on which version you’re using and what tools you care about. IIRC, it’s mostly the newer AI tools that are affected so maybe linux users won’t care as much, but its still a downside worth noting nonetheless.
Most of the time when Adobe products are mentioned in this context, people will instead offer alternatives rather than telling you to run it under wine. It really depends on what programs professionals are using at their jobs though, and I imagine most will just use Windows on a separate work computer and not deal with the random issues with compatibility and troubleshooting. I think most wouldn’t want to risk losing important work related projects either. If its something more simple like Microsoft Word then you could probably get away with using it on linux though.
CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world 1 day ago
It really depends on what programs professionals are using at their jobs though, and I imagine most will just use Windows on a separate work computer and not deal with the random issues with compatibility and troubleshooting
If you’re talking about professional VFX tools, then they all have 1st party Linux support. And no, Adobe Premiere and After Effects don’t fall into that category.
If its something more simple like Microsoft Word then you could probably get away with using it on linux though.
You can just use the PWA versions of Microsoft 365 Copilot App (formally known as Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office 365, formerly known as Microsoft Office). And better yet, LibreOffice is fully supported on Linux and arguably better than Microsoft 365 Copilot App.
LeFantome@programming.dev 1 day ago
Ya. I feel like professional VFX has largely migrated off Windows already.
Manticore@lemmy.nz 1 day ago
Yes, I am a design professional. Although I use Affinity rather than Adobe wherever I can, since i own the licence in perpetuity; but that isn’t Linux compatible either.
Since design software can include metadata in exported files, it’s also wise to use legally registered software so that my clients aren’t exposed to legal issues.
I’ve been looking at Linux for several years now, and this is the sole reason why I can’t leave Windows behind yet, because as you say: random issues with compatibility and troubleshooting.
So it bothers me whenever I investigate this and people suggest clearly inadequate ‘alternatives’ like GIMP or tell me I should just switch anyway. Anybody that implies I could do my job with GIMP clearly isn’t informed enough to actually answer my question.
Thank you very much for the nuanced and good faith explanation.
MyRobotShitsBolts@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Like the other user who pointed out that v3 works on linux; I have also heard rumblings from inside Affinity that Linux support is their #1 request, I would not be surprised to see v3 officially supported in one way or another. I’ve tried the method mentioned above but had mixed results with it. Yes it “works” but UI scaling was a mess for me and other parts of the UI just did not have the finish that you see on the windows or mac versions. I really really want them to get there.
Lastly I need a good photo library manager. Darktable is ok, but again, the UI is a mess. Linux needs a real lightroom killer.
Nikelui@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I have been a bit cautious because of the merge with Canva, but Affinity v3 works under Linux. There is a non-official project for helping with installation
github.com/ryzendew/Linux-Affinity-Installer
It is supposed to work with v2 also, but I couldn’t test it because the distro I use is not compatible (yet)
Manticore@lemmy.nz 23 hours ago
Very promising! Thank you, I’ll look into this. Hopefully it’s what I need!
LeFantome@programming.dev 1 day ago
Photoshop is perhaps the canonical example of software that does not run on Linux and is actually needed by “professionals”.
Photoshop does not run well enough on Wine that I would expect a pro to run it this way. And, if you are a print professional, there really are no Open Source tools that do what you need yet.
Bit outside of print, I think it is more about familiarity than capability even with regards to Adobe alternatives. And there are alternatives UI options for things like GIMP if the Adobe metaphor works better for you.
Inkscape seems to be attracting some actual professional use. Scribus seems close to getting there too. The furthest behind is GiMP.
That said, I am impressed with the development pace of GIMP now that version 3 has finally shipped. And it seems that proper CMYK support is on their near-term roadmap. I could see them shipping something functional next year. I would say similar things about non-destructive editing.
It will be interesting to see if attitudes change towards GIMP after these issues are addressed. The UI also takes a lot of heat. Now that there is a consistent cadence of releases (it seems), perhaps that will see steady evolution as well.
Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 hours ago
Run photoshop in a virtualized environment such as Winboat rather than directly through translation (Wine). It is a rather nuclear option, but as far as compatibility goes, can’t beat a barebones virtual machine.
MyRobotShitsBolts@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Inkscape is a legitimately great application for vector art.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Davinci works better in Linux.
RAW photo editing is already horrible in Windows if you’re trying to do HDR. To be fair, it’s horrible in Linux too, but as much as I hate it, they can’t touch Apple.
See this post I just made: lemmy.world/post/41751454/21613633
iOS will render HDR JPEG-XL, AVIF and tiled HEIFs straight out of a camera; no problem. But it’s a struggle on Windows and Linux.
Aetherion@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Professionals will be trapped forever in windows because of custom banking software.
LeFantome@programming.dev 1 day ago
This is a funny take given that for most of Linux history, the majority of Linux desktop user have been “working professionals”, largely IT workers and developers to be fair.
At this point, you cannot really make a blanket statement about who Linux is appropriate for. It is down to individual use cases and preferences.
I have been using Linux for decades and, while I have also used Windows and macOS, other operating systems are frustrating to use due to the many limitations. And I have been several kinds of “working professional” over that time at many different levels of seniority. But I recognize that this is because all my workflows and expectations evolved on Linux.
The “working professionals” you imagine likely have the same issue. It is not that Linux could not work, or even that it is not a better place to start. It is document compatibility and familiarity.
At this point, Linux “being ready” comes down almost completely to a tolerance for learning and change. Nobody says you have to change of course. But working differently does not mean that something else does not work.
There are of course still some software gaps. CAD is not great on Linux (getting there). Print graphics professionals (people with CMYK workflows) will hit real roadblocks. Some debugging tools available on Windows are worth the productivity for certain workflows. And “office document” users may encounter display inconsistencies when sharing documents depending on which features they rely on. Perhaps the latter is what you mean.
As for gaming, it depends on what titles you favour. Some Windows games play better on Linux. Some worse. And of course some not at all.
When choosing software for a company, I consider something that cannot work on the Linux desktop or through the cloud disqualifying. I can think of few cases where that has been the wrong decision.