Hey, I use the Adobe Suite for daily use to build and develop posts and videos for multiple people and can’t have my workflow slow down by learning a new application, I’ve looked into Linux a few times and want to really move over in the future but due to it not having support for Adobe, I’m not sure what to do.
One of the other applications I use is Sync (sync.com), It’s an application to sync your files from a folder to the cloud allowing me to switch from my to laptop (what I can’t run most things on) and then I can still access the files on the go if I need to send them to someone.
I also play plenty of games on Steam but not all of them have native Linux Instances. I believe Proton is actually helping bring non-native games to Linux which is a plus as really wouldn’t want to lose access to playing them.
Any advice on how I can get using Linux without losing these sorts of functions or do I have to wait till Windows annoys enough people making them all move to Linux first?
As others have said, dual boot or VM works for Adobe Software. If you go with VMs, you should probably research GPU passthrough.
For syncing, I recommend Syncthing (syncthing.net).
You can play a lot of Steam games with Proton (check out protonDB for what works).
Also have you decided on a distro already?
@backhdlp I haven’t quite decided on a Distro as there are so many and I’m not sure if there’s one more my style as of yet, I do like the center bar of Windows 11 & MacOS so might see what sort of Interface each one has (I know I could customize it from there what is fine, I can learn that later down the line).
Sync is more of a CloudStorage for my Video Edits as well as other things I know I need an Archive of but don’t have enough physical space on the 15TB+ I have across my devices.
Steam & gaming is less worrying as I’ve tried out Linux previously and found most of the games I did play on there where better FPS than on Windows (This was about a year ago, so I am sure this has greatly improved with stuff like the SteamDeck now out).
Dual Boot won’t really help in the long run but might be a good way for me to try out Linux on my PC before 100% committing to it.
You shouldn’t base your choice of distro on the desktop configuration you want. Any major distro can give you any of the various desktop layouts. Sure, their defaults may be different, but Linux being so configurable means that any other layout or environment is just a few clicks away.
Just choose a major distro (so you get regular updates and support when needed), and go with it. Linux Mint is a popular choice for beginners. Debian, OpenSuse, Fedora are all good choices. Then find out how to set your desktop to the configuration you like.
Unfortunately if you can’t afford to take time to learn new programs you’re most likely going to have to dual boot. As someone who also does creative work, and had been pretty dependent on Adobe prior to moving to Linux, I can tell you that trying to run any of the Adobe programs on Linux is a fool’s errand. Photoshop kind of works in Wine, but the rest are just plain unusable.
There’s also winapps, which essentially uses a VM to run Windows programs while integrating them into your regular Desktop in a seamless manner. I’ve never tried it and it hasn’t been updated in 2 years, but you could give it a shot.
If you do decide to try out alternatives though, DaVinci Resolve is good for video editing, Photopea (which is a web app) is pretty goddamn similar to Photoshop, Inkscape is pretty good for vector graphics, and Ardour, Audacity, and Reaper are all good in different ways for audio work.
That appears to be an old repo. https://github.com/winapps-org/winapps they moved here.
Daily Linux user for 7 years here. It’s pretty easy to load Windows onto a virtual machine, within Linux, for those stubborn programs that won’t launch with Wine or Proton.
As for Sync, I’d advise that there are other programs which serve the same purpose. Dropbox supports Linux, and OneDrive has an unofficial Linux client. SyncThing might also serve your purpose - it’s not in “the cloud” but instead syncs from all the linked machines to each other when they’re online. Warpinator is useful for quick file transfers on the same WiFi network.
Dropbox is not a good solution for content creators as it requires the client receiving a link to a large shared folder to have an expensive paid account to view the contents. They don’t tell you about this limitation until you pay for their service. Dropbox lies about this and will not refund your money when you discover they have lied to get your business.
TLDR: Fuck Dropbox.
@BurnTheRight I agree, I was looking into the possibility of using an ‘Unlimited’ plan for Business on Dropbox and they were asking over £80 a month just to do that. Sure is easier than using any other system (that is main stream) but when you are working with video and can’t cover that cost it’s not worth it.
I hope to eventually have my own home server that I will run but that’s something to save up for.
@SteleTrovilo SyncThing is closer to what I have but with a server by the developers that all my files get stored in for safety. The reason I didn’t use Dropbox or OpenDrive is cost, as for all my files to be stored on there it will cost more than the £30 a month I spend atm, as well as they don’t have an auto-syncing system well I work (or at least what I know of), Luckily I only really use it for my Adobe Files, so maybe just putting it on the VM with the other stuff I can’t run would make sense, Thanks for the help.
As others have stated, Dual boot but with two HDs one OS per Hard Disk. Otherwise Windows will write over the Linux grub (the equivalent yi windows MBR) one day (been there, several times 😭) and then it’s a right pain to get it back to normal. For the sync option, there are several options, Dropbox is available as an app on Linux, Also NextCloud works extremely well
@Minty95 Thank you, yeah I think I will probably invest in External Hard Drives as I have a lot of data to store with over 5TB worth currently on my Sync Cloud Storage and that’s ever-growing. I looked into a 10TB External HDD and it seems they are around £200 which isn’t cheap by any means but is cheaper than paying £300 a year (If I only use up 15TB per year).
Maybe a second hand NAS? They can be found dirt cheap, and often you can upgrade the HDs easily, or if your running a desktop PC with room, just add internal HDs as these are cheaper
Have a dual boot: gaming and personal stuff on Linux (using Proton for games), and pro on Windows.
But if you really need Adobe at any moment, well you either need to stay on Windows or switch to another app suite. That’s the unfortunate truth given Apple’ unwillingness to support Linux.
@TheFork Yeah I would tbh look into Apple if they actually supported my games at this point but I was told to look into VMing my Professional setup what is a good idea allowing me to use Linux for my own personal stuff but still be able to switch between the two quickly. I’ll have to look further into VMs as haven’t really touched them before.