Google funds Photoshop-on-Linux work

By Stephen Shankland on 20 February 2008

Google is funding work to ensure the Windows version of Adobe Systems' Photoshop and other Creative Suite software can run on Linux computers.

For the project, Google is funding programmers at CodeWeavers, a company whose open-source Wine software lets Windows software run on Linux. Wine is a compatibility layer that intercepts a program's Windows commands and converts them to instructions for the Linux kernel and its graphics subsystem.

"We hired CodeWeavers to make Photoshop CS and CS2 work better under Wine," Dan Kegel, of Google's software engineering team and the Wine 1.0 release manager, said on Google's open-source blog. "Photoshop is one of those applications that desktop Linux users are constantly clamoring for, and we're happy to say they work pretty well now ... We look forward to further improvements in this area."

Google already uses Wine for the Linux version of its Picasa software for editing, tagging, and uploading photos. Photoshop is a larger and more complicated package, however, not to mention updated to version CS3 for nearly a year, so it's likely the CodeWeavers programmers will have a lot of work on their hands.

A survey by desktop Linux advocate Novell found Photoshop is the top non-Linux application that Linux users would like to have. Although Adobe has dipped its toes into the desktop Linux waters, so far it hasn't made any major moves.

And with current technology trends, maybe Adobe never will see the need for Linux ports. With virtualisation software from companies such as Parallels and VMware and improving support from chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, it's getting easier to run multiple operating systems on the same computer.

Topics: wine, windows, photoshop, linux, google, codeweavers, adobe, open source, work, fund

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Comments (2)

  • kristo commented on 31/03/2008 23:59 Report abuse

    while GIMP is a nice utility for the developing world and for hobbyists, no serious designer can afford NOT to use Photoshop -- Adobe realises their Monopoly position, and no amount of free software is going to challenge that. this development is great news, not only for creative Linux users, but also Mac as every step is one away from Microsoft's dominance -- the only thing that keeps Windows on PCs is the applications -- the only significant market of which is Office, Graphic design, CAD and 3D design (at present only Office and Adobe are on OSX). Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk, are holding the reins at this point, if their key apps are ported OFF the Windows monkey to other OSes, and with the growing push toward open systems from the EU and Asian governments, Windows will fall behind OSX and Linux in a few short years. unfortunately, Adobe and Autodesk have made it clear they will remain on the dark side -- it's now up to other parties (genius coders and determined crackers) to find ways to facilitate this in a stable and sustainable fashion.

  • LaughingBoy commented on 21/02/2008 22:08 Report abuse

    While advancements in VMs is getting better, nothing beats running it native. I say fund development of The GIMP, over getting Photoshop to Wine. That way there's a free version available for everyone.

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