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Any fellow Linux users on here?

Judge said:
At least Gimp is still free. I paid a small fortune for Photoshop back in the 90s and am in no mood to rent it from Adobe!
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Same here! I bought Pshop around 2001. The cost to upgrade to a new version was bad enough, then they went to the subscription model. At some point there was talk of only being able to save to Adobe's cloud storage. I don't know if that happened or not.

I've still got Pshop 5.5 around somewhere. I can only think of 2 reasons to use it - real layers and a lovely dodge mode. I don't know if any of the new light modes in Pshop or GIMP duplicate the 5.5 dodge effect. I haven't found it yet in GIMP.

tkcartoonist said:
A lot of the features that I used in Photoshop I've found in Krita. Between that and GIMP, I'm never going back.
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I've seen many, many artists switch from GIMP to Krita. I've heard the Krita devs are responsive to the artists, which GIMP devs aren't; and I can understand why friendly devs would be appealing. On the other hand, the end result is a program I don't understand, except as a plaything for newbie artists. If I right click, I want the menu structure, not a bunch of brush presets for "chalk" or "oil paint" or "ink pen." If I could swap the brush presets for a menu, I'd look at Krita again.

Slime_Punk said:
The thing about Photoshop is that it's virtually unparalleled. While some people can get away with using Krita, Clip Studio and others for very basic tasks, the unfortunate truth is that for designers working on the raster end, nothing actually comes even close in terms of functionality and flexibility. Not Affinity Photo, Corel Paintshop, etc, etc.

(I'm also aware that GIMP has distanced itself from considering itself a PS clone, for the same reason)
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What are these "can't live without" features Pshop has? It's been a long time since I switched, so maybe I haven't heard of them.
 
I must admit though, in continuously observing how both Windows 11 and Linux distros continue to evolve, it appears that Microsoft's attempt to snuff out Linux as a competing OS seem to have failed.

That if I understand things correctly, with the latest versions of various Linux distributions that BIOS issue like Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 no longer seem to be hurdles in making both Windows and Linux run on the same motherboard.

So I may build that new system after all, but with a current generation CPU. Though as of now, I no longer have a real need to run Windows on a removable SSD as I do presently. I suppose my only real concern is continuing to successfully run at least two Linux distros (Mint 21.1 & Pop!OS22.04) on a hardware platform that is over ten years old. Making me wonder how much longer those dear friends of Linux will continue to make their OS so friendly to such old platforms.

Another reason for relishing both Mint and Pop!OS in particular, as both are Long-Term Support versions lasting to at least 2027. Surpassing the life of Microsoft Windows 10 by two years.
 
Jacks Brain said:
I've still got Pshop 5.5 around somewhere. I can only think of 2 reasons to use it - real layers and a lovely dodge mode. I don't know if any of the new light modes in Pshop or GIMP duplicate the 5.5 dodge effect. I haven't found it yet in GIMP.

What are these "can't live without" features Pshop has? It's been a long time since I switched, so maybe I haven't heard of them.
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It's all relative to what you like and how well you master it. With, me it's more a matter of being lazy. An old dog struggling to learn new tricks, and when it comes to Photoshop in particular I'm just in no mood to struggle any more. My bad...but there it is. And yes, I do use the dodge/burn functions quite a lot. And the "smudge" tool as well. Of course that smudge tool remains quite infamous, especially if you aren't using it relative to layers. Where it's so easy to ruin something.

Though make no mistake, with such an old version of Photoshop I can't do some of the wizardry that makes certain difficult things so easy, like seamlessly subtracting select elements from a photo. The "AI" stuff. So I still have to do such things the hard way.

However the most awesome aspect of it all remains to be able to run it in Linux, courtesy of Wine 8.0.2. And that it is actually more stable on Linux than Windows 10, where if you marquee large distances across a graphic with 300 DPI or more, it tends to crash the program. Something I don't think I ever discussed here in any real detail.

There was a single instance where Photoshop 5.5 crashed in earlier versions of Wine, but frankly I cannot recall the details. Though it didn't involve using the marquee function...something else that was relatively obscure and hasn't happened yet with Wine 8.0.2 in Linux. Now that I recall it was in using the slider tool to retard a filter. Where moving it too quickly could cause the program to crash. Something that I also experienced with Windows 10.
 
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Now if only Wine 8.0.2 could make my Corel Draw 3.0 run on Linux.

But that would be more up Harry Potter's line of work, given Corel Draw 3.0 is a 16-bit program that can't run on a 64-bit OS and motherboard. Oh well....can't have everything.
 
Judge said:
Now if only Wine 8.0.2 could make my Corel Draw 3.0 run on Linux.

But that would be more up Harry Potter's line of work, given Corel Draw 3.0 is a 16-bit program that can't run on a 64-bit OS and motherboard. Oh well....can't have everything.
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I did read that there is a variant of WINE that is compatible with Windows 3.1 software. I've never tried it, but it might be worth looking into.
 
Jacks Brain said:
What are these "can't live without" features Pshop has? It's been a long time since I switched, so maybe I haven't heard of them.
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Oddly, sometimes it's just as simple as being able to use plugins (most other software either fails in this department by crashing constantly or doesn't even try), being able to stack layer FX like shadows and overlays without having to rasterize a million times, and so many little workflow tricks that speed up the job.

(There are some bigger ones, apparently, like RAW editing and things like that, but my argument in that department would be that Linux probably has a lightroom clone or something even better, so I tend to disregard some of those things that people harp on, even if they're also true)

You can sort of mix-and-match with different programs, like attempting to use plugins in Affinity (it'll start relentlessly crashing sooner or later) or finding another feature that technically works in GIMP with a bunch of scripts and workarounds, but it's hard to just have everything all together in one box. They're definitely setting the standard with their updates and additions, and their algorithms are way ahead of everyone else's. I genuinely wish somebody with a better pricing scheme could just do 50% of what they can (maybe Affinity Photo 2 cuts it even closer), but it's crazy when the missing features start snowballing and you realize just how far they've come.

I really like the idea of switching over to Inkscape, though. After the learning curve, the quality really doesn't seem to go down the tubes for people like it does in the raster end.
 
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Slime_Punk said:
Oddly, sometimes it's just as simple as being able to use plugins (most other software either fails in this department by crashing constantly or doesn't even try), being able to stack layer FX like shadows and overlays without having to rasterize a million times, and so many little workflow tricks that speed up the job.
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Which reminds me, when I say I can run Photoshop 5.5 in Wine 8.0.2, that also includes a number of separate plug-ins from Extensis (Photo Tools 3.0, Mask 2.0, etc.) that all seem to work just fine. Also discovered recently that I got even Xenofex 1.0 set of filters to work just fine as well.
 
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On Corel 3, I just know that Wine can't seem to handle even the 32-bit versions of Corel Draw, let alone older 16-bit versions like mine. But if there really is another totally separate product that can, I'd like to know more. Though skeptical as I may be....

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=440
That all said, it remains confusing to me as to what the possibilities really are in practice rather than theory when it comes to running a 16-bit app on a 64-bit platform.

https://www.makeuseof.com/keysfan-singles-day-sale/
 
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Outdated said:
For this you really are better off using an x86 emulator. The best and easiest to configure that I've come across so far is 86Box - Emulator of retro x86-based machines

I use it for playing an old 16 bit game, NetHack.
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Interesting. Thanks for the feedback.

Truth is, in my case unlike my perception of Photoshop, Inkscape 1.3 does pretty much anything Corel Draw could do long ago. Another reason I covet my ancient version of Photoshop so much is because in all these years I've never stopped using it. Corel Draw 3.0 is an application that I can't even recall the last year I used it. Maybe around 2007 or earlier.

Years ago I used to make a little money on the side making graphics-intensive flyers for friends. I still recall making a flyer for a corporate bake sale, and had a picture of Saddam Hussein with the caption, "This will be the mother of all bake sales!"...lol.

On the other hand, I still have quite a few 16-bit Windows games I'd love to play again without using my legacy computer that runs Windows XP SP3. Though now that I think of it, I'd love to be able to run Microsoft Publisher 2.0 as well...but even with emulation software that might be a longshot. Still a "down and dirty" desktop publishing program that I used more often than Adobe Pagemaker 6.5. Though I'm not even sure if I could even print such output in another Linux program as I can images with Gimp 2.10.

Glad I have a spare SSD with Pop!OS22.04 to experiment with. Assuming of course I can use such software successfully on a 64-bit Linux platform. I'm also considering to reinstall Windows 10 on that SSD only to experiment with all the hacks one can apply in upgrading toe Windows 11. Just for my own amusement. I used to fully expect Microsoft to circumvent such hacks on general principle, but since Windows 11 seems like such a marketing disaster they may not bother now...lol. And if they do....."oh well".
 
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Judge said:
On the other hand, I still have quite a few 16-bit Windows games I'd love to play again without using my legacy computer that runs Windows XP SP3.
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It was a real nostalgia trip installing DOS and then Win98 again.

Another win graphics program that I still use from time to time is called Real Draw, it's aimed at creating web graphics and is really easy to use, also runs well under Wine.
 
It's apparently that time of year again where I decide, "OK, it's time to get into Linux for real" (I was going to start a new thread, but it would've just gotten moved back here. It does sort of have to do with Photoshop though, so it's not too irrelevant I hope, but I'm trying to save the mods from having to move it over since, you know, Linux).

This time I've concocted a theory that maybe the combined powers of scripting in GIMP and Inkscape, plus the almighty power of Processing (the language) and Python (+ the wonderful imaging libraries that exist) could somehow, in some possible way, replace Photoshop. (maybe even shell scripting could automate some things?)

Most of the scripting that I'd be into would be part of the workflow, too. If I didn't like the way something worked, I wouldn't mind just designing something that works for a single process at a time. I'm basically coming over from using PS with a plugin called Filter Forge, which is just a node-based editor with a scripting interface, but I've since become more infatuated with creating DIY filters in Processing anyway, and even making my own image croppers and 'helper tools' so that I don't have to rely on Photoshop as much (or at all) when I'm doing image manipulation.

I know. I'm a dreamer.

The biggest issue boils down to not wanting to 'pay' for Photoshop anymore. I like the idea of FOSS and things being free to use forever, even if they're rough around the edges or take some time to master. I feel like I've gotten relatively good at picking up new scripting languages for the billions of things that exist, so the biggest hurdle here looks like actually getting into bash (or even getting used to using the command line more). Oh, and the fact that everything is white-themed and there's no flux, (blue-light blocker) so I feel like I'm going snowblind. On that note, let me go get my sunglasses.

I don't know. I've either finally lost my mind or I'm on the cusp of a new self-discovery. Or both. If anybody cares about how the saga goes, I might update once or twice whenever I come across new workarounds or things that work "just like the real thing!™". I know it'll never be Photoshop, but a solid workflow would be pretty cool.
 
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I'm wondering if anyone can help me out. I'm taking a class about the service/help desk, and I'm trying to find a decent free ticketing system software for Linux to complete an assignment. I have this kind of software in a Windows VM on my machine, but the VM is so ungainly slow that it's nigh unusable. I have tried to install three different software packages (one of them is called osTicket, and I forgot what the others were), but it seems like a nightmare to install any of them. All the installation instructions involve all these alterations to Apache2, mySQL, and whatnot, when all I really want to do is install the program and make these tickets and get this assignment done. Any suggestions on what to do? I'd appreciate any advice I can get.
 
tkcartoonist said:
I'm wondering if anyone can help me out. I'm taking a class about the service/help desk, and I'm trying to find a decent free ticketing system software for Linux to complete an assignment. I have this kind of software in a Windows VM on my machine, but the VM is so ungainly slow that it's nigh unusable. I have tried to install three different software packages (one of them is called osTicket, and I forgot what the others were), but it seems like a nightmare to install any of them. All the installation instructions involve all these alterations to Apache2, mySQL, and whatnot, when all I really want to do is install the program and make these tickets and get this assignment done. Any suggestions on what to do? I'd appreciate any advice I can get.
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Do you know how to use docker? It allows you to have a container with an application and all its dependencies inside. There can be recipes to automate setting up the container. It would appear from this link that osTicket is in the docker registry, which means someone has made a recipe for it. scroll down to Installation using Docker

You will need to install docker using your distribution's package manager before following those instructions.
 
Hi linux fans. I am new to the forum. I have been using linux since 1997 or so. I had a slackware cd set back then. I have used a number of distributions over the years. At first linux was really exciting and I learned a lot about it as a hobby itself. Nowadays, I use it as a tool to support my job and other hobbies. I currently use NixOS on my personal computer. I have Raspberry Pis in my 3d printers that run Raspberry Pi OS with klipper to control the printers. I am sure I have other things around here running linux, if I thought about it.

Anyway, sorry for double posting. I figured I might as well introduce myself after my first post.
 
Recently, I got another freebie desktop computer that was part of a large donation to the tech college I've been taking IT classes at. I decided to try an experiment: let's make a tailnet by installing FreeBSD and tailscale on this desktop and using it as a server. It took some trial and error, but I was able to get everything to work. I also learned the benefits of using ssh on my laptop to update the BSD computer while it is connected to the tailnet.
 
Slime_Punk said:
It's apparently that time of year again where I decide, "OK, it's time to get into Linux for real" (I was going to start a new thread, but it would've just gotten moved back here. It does sort of have to do with Photoshop though, so it's not too irrelevant I hope, but I'm trying to save the mods from having to move it over since, you know, Linux).

This time I've concocted a theory that maybe the combined powers of scripting in GIMP and Inkscape, plus the almighty power of Processing (the language) and Python (+ the wonderful imaging libraries that exist) could somehow, in some possible way, replace Photoshop. (maybe even shell scripting could automate some things?)

Most of the scripting that I'd be into would be part of the workflow, too. If I didn't like the way something worked, I wouldn't mind just designing something that works for a single process at a time. I'm basically coming over from using PS with a plugin called Filter Forge, which is just a node-based editor with a scripting interface, but I've since become more infatuated with creating DIY filters in Processing anyway, and even making my own image croppers and 'helper tools' so that I don't have to rely on Photoshop as much (or at all) when I'm doing image manipulation.

I know. I'm a dreamer.

The biggest issue boils down to not wanting to 'pay' for Photoshop anymore. I like the idea of FOSS and things being free to use forever, even if they're rough around the edges or take some time to master. I feel like I've gotten relatively good at picking up new scripting languages for the billions of things that exist, so the biggest hurdle here looks like actually getting into bash (or even getting used to using the command line more). Oh, and the fact that everything is white-themed and there's no flux, (blue-light blocker) so I feel like I'm going snowblind. On that note, let me go get my sunglasses.

I don't know. I've either finally lost my mind or I'm on the cusp of a new self-discovery. Or both. If anybody cares about how the saga goes, I might update once or twice whenever I come across new workarounds or things that work "just like the real thing!™". I know it'll never be Photoshop, but a solid workflow would be pretty cool.
Click to expand...
I can't really comment about the use of third-party plug-ins or similar applications in conjunction with Gimp 2.10, but it seems pretty universal across the Linux universe that Gimp is the number one replacement for Photoshop. Can't blame you though. It's why I continue to hang on for dear life to an ancient version of Photoshop 5.5. running through Wine 8.0.1. Even my Xenofex and Extensis plug-ins for Photoshop still work using Wine....go figure. I'm also a big fan of Inkscape...though I don't use it a lot.

But what Adobe wants these days in the form of $ubscriptions is madness. Not worth it. Small wonder that personalities like Oracle's Larry Ellison has been pushing for all apps to become downloadable on a subsciption basis for years now. Seems the dawn of a new dystopian future is upon us. Especially given the momentum to end portable media- particularly optical disks of any format. :eek:
 
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