Adobe has joined OSDL and is active in the desktop Linux working group. The new CEO is Bruce Chizen.Īccording to these articles from last year, Adobe is indeed planning a full Linux release of Acrobat (not just Reader). He was one of the founders of the company, however, and probably doesn't want to let go completely. The company was openly hostile toward GNU/Linux.įast forward to today and Warnock is no longer the CEO. Given this record, it doesn't seem like there would be the need for any backroom deal. They pulled their only Linux beta project.

Their CEO hated Free Software and testified on Microsoft's behalf. It seemed obvious at the time that Adobe would never make its applications available on a Free/Libre platform. He came out as a staunch opponent of Free Software and GNU/Linux in particular. Then CEO of Adobe, John Warnock, defended Microsoft in its antitrust trial. I also remember that brief flirtation of Adobe with Linux. Posted 5:03 UTC (Fri) by jabby (guest, #2648) Adobe's support would 'legitimize' the GNU/Linux desktop overnight. I'm pretty optimistic that we'll see the Adobe Creative Suite on GNU/Linux in the near future. I think the upcoming release of Acrobat 7 is a good sign. They're genuinely interested in the GNU/Linux creative content market, at least.Īnd there's no love lost between Adobe and Microsoft, so I doubt they have a 'gentleman's agreement' on anything, at least not on product lines. I've spoken to an Adobe product manager about Adobe's interest in GNU/Linux, off the record, and what I inferred from that conversation is that Adobe is simply trying to figure out whether there will be enough (paying) customers for GNU/Linux proudcts to justify the development cost. It is very likely that Adobe and Microsoft have some sort of behind the scenes 'gentleman's agreement' which keeps Adobe from supporting Linux. And PageMaker doesn't really compete with any of Microsoft's offerings, anyway it's not aimed at the same market as Word.

This happened years ago (back in 1998 or 1999?), long before Microsoft perceived desktop GNU/Linux as a credible threat. I remember the aborted release of PageMaker, but I don't think it follows that Microsoft had anything to do with it. ' In other words, Microsoft won't tread on Adobe's turf as long as Linux is treated like the redheaded stepchild. What happened? Probably some subtle threats from Microsoft along the lines of 'Remember what happened to WordPerfect. Posted 1:45 UTC (Fri) by dhess (guest, #7827)

Adobe reader pro linux