When the acquisition happened they made a pledge to keep affinity as a separate product and to have perpetual licenses.
Technically they can always introduced a subscription in addition to perpetual licenses but the implication is that they wouldn’t do that.
For what it’s worth, they understand their user base and were vocal about their plans. Maybe they’ll disappoint, but they haven’t really given reason to doubt so far.
I recently swapped to Mint and have been enjoying it. I still have Windows as my daily driver and I have a handful of things that I still need windows for, but I have a media center and a gaming PC set up both on mint. There was an odd quirk with Steam where it didn’t launch after some update, and it was a bit asinine to be honest. But after a few hours of research online I found the issue and modified a file so it loaded properly. Stuff like that sucks, but it gives me experience navigating the OS and understanding how it works.
To your point though, it overall just works. My wife uses it no problem and is getting use to where things are. I maintain the system though, ensuring updates are applied and searching for solutions when needed (for instance, we use caffeine to stop the monitor from going to sleep when playing games with a controller)
I’m assuming the windows machine is a work PC and the Linux is yours right?
Because what you describe doesn’t sound like a “windows” issue but rather an IT management issue.
You can put off updates and reboots a very long time. And always be able yo postpone them.
Applying updates on boot daily sounds dumb to me. But I’m also figuring your IT dept has poor (or no) sense in managing their inventory well. Most updates can be applied silently at a scheduled time.
Also, your machine sounds old and/or poorly maintained the way you describe it. If its more than 5 years old your company is just cheap.
I’m all for griping about Windows but this seems off to me.
Skype is dead. Introducing: CoPilot Calls
Seriously though, Skype is a good example of how MS butchers products. I mean, I never loved Skype but it worked and was the defacto video calling platform of the masses. If they had their shit together, even a little bit, then Zoom would never have taken the market. I don’t really like zoom either, but its better than Skype.
Exactly. And that’s why people are misunderstanding the sentiment. Its not that AI doesn’t have value, its that it doesn’t have revenue. They want more return on investment before investing more.
I can criticize Microsoft all day, but that logic in itself isn’t bad business. Of course the counter argument is they have the money to float the difference until they turn a profit. But I’m not in the habit of saying how other people should spend their money.
I have a hard time making the connection that DMS is making.
OnlyOffice is a Russian company, so it naturally has “ties” to Russia.
They have not condemned their government for invading Ukraine, which can be for many reasons. Maybe they approve of it as DMS concludes. But maybe they don’t want to get political at all (hell, look at what a single comment from Andy Yen has done to views of Proton). Maybe they don’t want their government making life difficult for them. There could be a multitude of reasons they didn’t say anything.
The way the statement is written is condemning for lack of evidence. Which is fine as an opinion. But that’s all it is.
Don’t get me wrong, I followed your link because I wanted to know and appreciate the heads up. If there’s shady stuff then I’ll avoid them. I have no ties to OnlyOffice for anything.
But being honest with the info doesn’t support the DMS claim. I’m happy to be wrong if there’s other information out there, but their biased statement makes me distrust DMS more than OnlyOffice.
Oh for sure. Excel is hot garbage when it comes to UI. I really want a replacement so I don’t have to rely on Microsoft. I use Libre Office for every other office app, and a more sane experience.
It doesn’t have the same level of formulas, VBA, and data set linking.
I agree that winrar is better (or at least historically better since I don’t routinely test like you do).
However the need to compress files is different than it has been. Storage space is always getting bigger and cheaper so I don’t need to store anything compressed.
Compression is best for sharing files, which that has evolved greatly since the creation of rar files. And recently windows has added native 7z support so it’s become the convenient choice.
The app is paid. It’s absurd to me that one would need to pay for a pbs subscription since the you’re paying for the original funding in the first place.
I’m still waiting for a proper excel replacement. No, google sheets and libre office don’t cut it. I literally have a copy of office 2019 that I have to finagle to install only that app and nothing else.
It’s about your rights.
I want to decide if tik tok is a horrible thing that I don’t want to use and then choose not to use it. I don’t need the government telling me what is okay and not okay. I’m a grown up and can make that decision for myself.
Cheat sheet: look at all government policies and politicians this way. Regardless if you agree or disagree with the topic/results look at what idea or concept or precedence it sets forth and decide from there. (I personally hate tik tok for many reasons, both socio and political in nature and think it should be burned from he earth - but I don’t support a ban on it) Second cheat sheet: if after that analysis you decide you support an idea, then ask how it gets paid for (whats the soirce of the financing) and who’s in charge of it (how the money gets spent) and what checks and measures are in place to keep it productive (how it gets regulated).
Oh nice. I’ll have to look into this as it looks like a good solution. Much appreciated
Affinity is on my list of reasons I don’t go 100% Linux. People have gotten it to work (I myself have not tried) but it always seems janky and not a long term solution.
There are alternatives to Affinity, but that’s another discussion. Why you want it, your use cases etc.
I am currently deciding between a dual boot scenario vs a VM of Windows. I’ll probably choose the latter, but your situation might not want to even go down this road.
I think you put too much weight on everything, including your opinion. I am not trying to be insulting, just realistic.
I can equally say that I hate how so many people say, “just switch to Linux, its easy and does everything.” Neither of those is the case because it doesn’t factor in the learning curve nor does Linux do everything.
So if you want more Linux users, focus more on being helpful. Ask what their specific concerns are, or what apps they must have vs would be nice to have. Point people to distros that would fit their use case (it’s mind boggling as a non Linux user to just look up what distro to get). Then point them towards how to find answers to their questions and troubleshooting steps.
Nuture the seeds you plant and they will grow. Yelling at them that they aren’t growing isn’t going to help.
As somebody that currently owns a newer Honda and a 20+ year old one, its a mixed bag.
Yes, the safety features are nice (my car will alert me if it detects I need to break before I do). Yes, the convenience features are nice (I never have to worry about headlights on or off and “follow” cruise control is a must on road trips). I also love the electric transmission since I have a hybrid that give me instant power like having a turbo.
But I miss having a temperature gauge (the car will tell me when its overheating I presume). I also hate that the car reports in on my personal data and sells it to other companies.
Hondas recent merger with Nissan will probably make them worse too. So there’s that. I’m guessing next car I buy will be Toyota.
I had a VW Passat which is the same thing as your Audi, just non luxury version. That thing broke down all the time. I got rid of it after 5 years because I had to. I just couldn’t afford to always be fixing it.
I’ve historically stuck with Honda’s which are very reliable. My last civic was 20 years old when I moved on from it. It still works, just not reliably for long distances. My son drives it now.
People would always ask me when I was going to get a new car. I would say I’m always looking but I won’t buy a new car until I need to buy a new car. I’m thankful for not having the monthly payment.
People would just nod their head and understand where I was coming from even though they wouldn’t make that same decision themselves.
During that time I made a monthly “car payment” into savings so I built up enough money to buy the car I wanted. Since it wasn’t a real car payment the money was a good emergency fund, which I ended up needing.
Nothing is “wrong” with it. Its just a different platform.
The “problem” is that its just a different platform. Nothing is really different. It’s like choosing Pepsi over Coke. Its a choice and maybe one is flavored more to your liking, but they are both full of the same ingredients and unhealthy with continual ingestion.
I haven’t used it either, because I didn’t like Twitter or X. Today I suspect Bsky is fine, because it hasn’t been around long enough to become toxic or to censor discussions etc… Just give it time, it will get there.
The issue most people are bringing up is that there are “better” platforms (i.e. fediverse) that aren’t getting any traffic instead.
I can understand this, but the flip side is that the voices promoting the fediverse usually arent very compelling either in voice or ease. Think of it like somebody wanting to buy a PC. One person says to get Linux (and arch of course) because it’s the best and you’re a fool to get anything else. Here, take it and figure it out. Another person says to get a Mac, because it can do everything you need it to do, easily and without work, plus has added features you didn’t even think about that seem useful to your life. And if you get stuck they have a genius bar to assist. So people choose Mac. Similarly people are choosing Bsky because it’s easy and straightforward.
I agree with you, but there’s two sides of the coin.
I would rather pay for a finished product that is good. Sure I can download Linux for free, but I’d rather pay for it. I’d rather support teams that are putting out a product to ensure it is the best it can be and be continually maintained.
FOSS doesn’t have to be free. Nor should it be.
However when projects get organized like that they become organizations. Organizations become businesses. And that’s fine. Let’s support them so they can eat and feed their kids.
So it begs the question, if I feel that way about them is it fine to support non open source orgs and software? Of course it is.
So it basically comes down to the complaining that the software is not good enough.
Of course “good enough” isn’t binary, so if its on the threshold of usability I use it and if its severely lacking then I don’t. No big deal.
If its free, then there is no reason to complain regardless. If you’re paying for it, I think your opinion has a bit more weight. Of course there’s still a scale. If it’s so far removed from usability then I just don’t buy it. Windows is a good example of that. But if its close, voicing your opinion that you want certain features is more than fine. It doesn’t remove your support. Wanting Affinity on Linux is a fine desire. If they haven’t said they aren’t going to then asking isn’t a complaint. It’s a want.
I use Affinity because its the best solution I can find. I would love to have it on Linux. Maybe one day it will happen, but I’m not holding my breath. Supporting Affinity in hopes that they make it better for me (for my preferred platform) is OK, because I’m finding a way to use the product that suits me today. If that way becomes too much hassle tomorrow, I’ll move on. But if they make it easy for me to stay with them then I won’t. But either way, supporting Gimp won’t make it Affinity. It’ll just make Gimp a better Gimp.
I guess it boils down to, do you support something that isn’t what you want in hopes it becomes what you want it to be or do you support something that is exactly what you want, hoping it will go to where you want it?
Sorry I rambled on there (I’m tired). I do agree with you but there’s a counter point I also agree with. I don’t think they are exclusive.