What has Adobe done to fuel my creativity? 25 years of copyright protection on their apps. And in all of that time, I have never paid to use a legit version of their most current app. Why? Because their DRM is overengineered and full of weaknesses that can easily be exploited by even the most novice user. Their paranoia combined with their incompetence has saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the decades.
I don’t think it’s incompetence, exactly. If you’re not going to pay for Photoshop (Lightroom, Audition, etc…), Adobe would rather you use a pirated Photoshop as opposed to learning something else. Because even a pirated version helps them keep their stranglehold on the market.
It’s the same reason Microsoft doesn’t really crack down on pirated versions of Windows.
They could crack down more on pirated Photoshop, but they don’t want to.
The money is in the commercials licensing, and people who can’t afford Creative Cloud pirating it and learning it is good for them when they need software for work later.
I’m a massive fan of FOSS. For my GIS work, I use QGIS over ESRI. For 3D modeling, I use Blender. For streaming video, I use OBS. Many FOSS solutions are extremely polished, and even for those that are clunky, they can be made to do what you need with a little work.
But when it comes to photo editing, the reality is Adobe’s overpriced market leaders also happen to be far and away the best products. It’s not even close. Photoshop and Lightroom are untouched by the competition, paid or free. They’re simply excellent products that provide functionality that isn’t replicated elsewhere.
I’ve been legally using their shit for two decades. It’s a fucking nightmare. I have to use their app to login in conjunction to my pc because they restrict us to TWO machines at a time. I have 4 I regularly use, so it’s just a huge hassle.
I block their connections now to avoid this, and again, I PAY THEM, and I’m just ONE PERSON. Every person in charge at this company is a clown.
I need to learn this superpower. I have tried alternates but I can’t really afford the slow down that comes with the learning curve, but I’m also unemployed and broke now…
r/piracy has a megathread with an easy tutorial on how to make that work, it’s honestly so easy it made me feel dumb for ever paying for adobe. you just have to run like one app, and then make your firewall block all outgoing connections for each of the .exes, the only app that doesn’t work despite that is lightroom BUT lightroom classic is fully functional and the same if not better, so no loss there
What has Adobe done to fuel my creativity? 25 years of copyright protection on their apps. And in all of that time, I have never paid to use a legit version of their most current app. Why? Because their DRM is overengineered and full of weaknesses that can easily be exploited by even the most novice user. Their paranoia combined with their incompetence has saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the decades.
Thanks Adobe!
I don’t think it’s incompetence, exactly. If you’re not going to pay for Photoshop (Lightroom, Audition, etc…), Adobe would rather you use a pirated Photoshop as opposed to learning something else. Because even a pirated version helps them keep their stranglehold on the market.
It’s the same reason Microsoft doesn’t really crack down on pirated versions of Windows.
It’s also the same reason Microsoft pushed to get Windows in grade schools - even paying for the computers in some cases.
They could crack down more on pirated Photoshop, but they don’t want to.
The money is in the commercials licensing, and people who can’t afford Creative Cloud pirating it and learning it is good for them when they need software for work later.
I’m a massive fan of FOSS. For my GIS work, I use QGIS over ESRI. For 3D modeling, I use Blender. For streaming video, I use OBS. Many FOSS solutions are extremely polished, and even for those that are clunky, they can be made to do what you need with a little work.
But when it comes to photo editing, the reality is Adobe’s overpriced market leaders also happen to be far and away the best products. It’s not even close. Photoshop and Lightroom are untouched by the competition, paid or free. They’re simply excellent products that provide functionality that isn’t replicated elsewhere.
I’ve been legally using their shit for two decades. It’s a fucking nightmare. I have to use their app to login in conjunction to my pc because they restrict us to TWO machines at a time. I have 4 I regularly use, so it’s just a huge hassle.
I block their connections now to avoid this, and again, I PAY THEM, and I’m just ONE PERSON. Every person in charge at this company is a clown.
I need to learn this superpower. I have tried alternates but I can’t really afford the slow down that comes with the learning curve, but I’m also unemployed and broke now…
Their superpower is piracy, not using alternatives.
r/piracy has a megathread with an easy tutorial on how to make that work, it’s honestly so easy it made me feel dumb for ever paying for adobe. you just have to run like one app, and then make your firewall block all outgoing connections for each of the .exes, the only app that doesn’t work despite that is lightroom BUT lightroom classic is fully functional and the same if not better, so no loss there
Omg thank you!