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Corel releases Photo-Paint for Linux for Free
Corel has released Photo-Paint for Linux for free. You can go to their web site and download it (there are packages for RPM and DEB although its compressed with .tar.gz). Good work, Corel. Their FTP seems to be full, so could someone make a mirror please?
I'd say there IS a market for commertial apps on linux. And why not? Linux is a better OS than most, and the OS is free. But when I show the GIMP to photoshop users, they don't get it. You could sell them $600 worth of photoshop regardless of the os it runs on.
$.02, -=nft1999=-
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -Gandhi
This is the greatest testament to the success of Gimp I have seen yet. Basically Corel is saying "look you have Gimp so it's tough to sell you Photopaint. Instead we are going to give it away and hope you come back to purchase those things with cash value on the Linux market.
This is not new for Corel. This is the same company that for years gave away older versions of Corel draw with Diamond Video cards. Some motherboards come with Perfect Office 8 and there is a deal that should see Corel Linux and Office for Linux distributed in the same way. I haven't seen any signs of that yet though.
It's sad but one consequence of Linux' rapid growth is that Corel will likely go under before Microsoft is able to clearly measure our impact on the desktop. KOffice will be the next Office Suite to dominate the market and even that will not have the percentages that MSOffice holds now. My advise to Corel is to help out. Do your damnedest to work with everyone else who needs to Import MSOffice files and work with some kind of standard XML.
If file formats are removed as a serious market factor then Corel will be able to squeeze 4 or 5 years of solid sales out of it's clear user interface and strong feature set lead. Otherwise it will get crushed between MSOffice and KOffice.
PS : I do know about Gnome Office but it has quite a ways to go before it is near the Office of today. The main problem is that GOffice was designed and built in different camps with varied loyalty to the Gnome core. Eventually the various parts will be fully integrated but since they were not designed that way from the ground up it will take time.
I only hope they and KDE work towards a standard XML interpretation. That way I can continue to share even the most complex of documents with others regardless of what they choose.
As for the others. Applix and StarOffice both want to become the next MSOffice and dominate in the same proprietary way. This is why they are doomed to the same fate as OS/2. Corel at least is desperate enough to and well designed enough to look at such radical options.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
Honest, I'm not trying to troll. It's just that this story is the latest to make me wonder about the financial viabillity of Linux as a targetted OS for commercial software.
I don't think this is a troll. It's a perfectly valid question and basically the same question I asked myself when I read this.
If these companies keep giving everything away free, there is no way they can maintain financial viability. Giving Photo-Paint away free is hardly going to get Corel out of the financial hole they are in now. Giving Photo-Paint for Linux away free is going to backfire on Corel and the linux software market in general.
I look on Corel's website and notice that the same software for Windows costs $495 or $149 for upgrade. A quick glance and one might think 'hey, why pay $500 for the windows version when I can get the linux version for free?'. This is all well and good in the short term, but what is going to happen is that software developers will look at this and think 'why should I develop a Linux version of Foo Program if no one will pay money for it when people are willing to fork over $500 for the Windows version?'
Now this isn't to say I want to pay $500 for a paint program. But I *AM* willing to pay something. If they made this software [for both platforms] available on their eStore for a reasonable price [say, $20-$50] then I think in the long run it would be better for the Linux software industry. At the very least, selling a product for $20 as opposed to giving it away would at least slow Corel's downward spiral if not stop it.
Are there ANY Linux software companies that are making a profit? I don't mind paying for software but jeez that crap is so expensive! $99 for an upgrade to Windoze?!? $500 for a drawing program? People are lucky to be able to afford a computer let alone $500 for a drawing program [yeah it's cheaper than others...they're overpriced too :) ]
Ender
Nothing to see here
You know that paper stuff 99% of us don't have enough of?
Microsoft has no choice but to keep raising the price of it's software. Sales volumes are not growing fast enough to justify the stock valuation ( even after 1/2 of it dropped off ). When the total hardware of your PC costs under $300 paying another $300 for OS and Basic Office productivity becomes a pain. Dropping a grand for the retail boxes is just insane.
MS doesn't have features to justify the high sales volumes it has. That is rather the result of nobody else being able to read the files consistently.
All but two of the people I know who bought MSOffice retail did so because they had trouble reading new files. Those two bought it because the older version they had was too unstable to use on the systems they had. One couldn't get Access to start at all.
If and only if the file compatibility issue can be dealt with in a complete and consistent way Microsoft Office will go down and MS won't be able to do much about it.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
Don't get too worried -- most people who advocate Linux on the desktop don't need to use any applications more complex than web/mail/news/sound players, and like to do these (rather generic) tasks in a Unix environment.
Unlike any other OS, Linux's desktop "Killer Apps" seems to be programming tools. Not good if you need to get any work done, but presumably all of those programming tools will eventually produce programs that do something other than assist in writing programs.
When I hear the word 'innovation', I reach for my pistol.
Posted by 11223:
On a related note, Pixel32 has promised a Linux port of their excellent (far better than PhotoPaint, IMHO) photo manipulation program. You can register until the end of July for $32, get the WinDOS version, and then get the BeOS and Linux versions for free later when they come out. (After that it's $50).
Actually they are not giving away all of their apps. They are charging $100 for their office suite, and when Corel Draw comes out they plan on charging roughly the same as they are charging for the Windows version.
.net. I have a feeling that we won't have to worry too much about it, and I'm not implying anything about the trial. MS is pissing too many people off, and this will continue to agrivate them. I have meet too many people who are tired of MS jerking them around, and telling them what to do, and are getting ready to either stop using some of their products or not upgrade. Major companies are starting to look to other solutions, even different Office Suites, because it is becoming too expensive to upgrade, especially now that MS is pulling roving licensing and requiring that every machine that might use Office must have a seperate license. Also with MS not having the same leverage on the OEMs as they used to, they won't be able to force it down everyones throat. It won't fly.
The three things that they have given away, Corel Linux, Photo-Paint, and WordPerfect 8 have been for good reasons. The first two are because the market value of Linux and a product like Photo-Paint is zero, Linux for obvious reasons, and Photo-Paint has to compete with the GIMP.
As for WordPerfect 8, my guess is they wanted to gain their marketshare back. By catering to the Linux community they hoped that people would use it, and then pay for the full WordPerfect Suite 2000, with WP 9. Also, if they want to be able to sell their products they need Linux to grow, and with one of the biggest complaints about Linux being that it has no real commercial and home use products (although FUD, it is what a lot of people believe) they needed to show that there is in fact everything that you can get on Windows for Linux.
As for your question about MS
Disclamer - Opinion of Person
Never underestimate the dark side of the Source
well, I could give the links the same way that you did, but people need to accept the end user License Agreement. I know it sounds to some people a bit foolish, but thats their software and thats what their wish.
Hetz (Heunique)
With all respect to those who think this is a positive thing, we must seriously consider whether this isn't so much FreeWare as it is AbandonWare.
A few facts gleaned from The Motley Fool:
In short, I think that Corel is a company that is in serious financial trouble. I think it is far more likely that Corel is doing this not for PR--but because they're going to eliminate PhotoPaint development, support, etc. as part of their announced C$40 million cost-cutting campaign.
Don't get me wrong--I have a lot of regard for Corel. Ten years ago I was writing PostScript code generators for calibrating imagesetting equipment--and developing books and periodicals with Corel Draw and Ventura Publisher (now owned by Corel). I subsequently was a sysop on the VENTURA forum on CompuServe, and did a lot of technical illustration with Corel Draw. I've retouched hundreds of photographs with PhotoPaint.
But I think this is a sign of Corel going into the tank--not a sign of positive developments for Linux at all.
sic transit gloria....
Talk about unfair business practices to promote an OS. MS gave away a program to promote Windows (IE) that would cost maybe $50 retail. Here is Corel, giving away something that cost $495 retail! And if you didn't notice, only the Linux version is free. This point, that the Windows version is not-free, points to Corel's business plan. They are using this as a leg up in the emerging Linux market. By keeping the Windows version for pay, they protect a cash cow, while getting the Linux crowd (who don't want to pay for anything :) to jump on their bandwagon. I can assure you, that if Linux comes to even a fraction of the market (say when 25% of Photo-Paint users are Linux users) they will pull out this free thing to protect their money. There will already be an installed base of users, and most will pony up the $495 than bother to switch to another program for their work. This also gives them a leg-up in the market because they're here first. The Linux community seems intensely loyal, and it seems that many will continue to use Photo-Paint, simply because Corel has supported the Linux movement, and even if better products come along. This is demonstrated vivedly in the whole nVidia/3DFx fiasco, people still use 3DFx, even though nVidia is better, just because nVidia doesn't give a damn about OSS.
As for you people bitching about this not being OpenSource, get over yourselves. Corel is releasing a product to further their business. That's what companies do. You can bet that RedHat would close up Linux in an instant (if they were allowed to.) The contingent that won't use PhotoPaint just because it is not OSS is relativly small, and frankly, I doubt Corel cares about you. There is an art of managing consumers. Only cater to those you know can affect your business. The hardcore OSS community is a very small contingent, and thus Corel can piss you off all they want and not affect their business...
Corel (to Stalinite): Ha ha, this isn't Open Source!
Stalinite:No! (Goes over and talks to another user.) Look, they're not releasing this open source. Boycott them. Burn their products!
Normal Consumer:Get away from me! I'll use this product all I want... It's FREE. As in no moolah.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
1. You certify that you are not a minor and that you agree to be bound by all of the terms and conditions set out in the license below. downloading and/or using corel photo-paint for linux will be an irrevocable acceptance of the terms and conditions of the license.
Don't they learn?
I'm not complaining, mind you. This is definately a step in the right direction (commercial apps released for Linux). But IMHO the timing is a little too perfect... But maybe I'm just pessimistic.
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this is something i was always wondering might happen - a product which is released both on Windows (and/or mac), and Linux. in particular, in one case free, and in the other, not.
i can see windows users sitting there going "hey, i paid $lots for Corel Suite, why are Linux users getting it for free?". essentially, they are discriminating on the grounds of operating system. Imagine if it was like that the other way round, a software product you wanted to use that was free on a platform you didn't like, but you had to pay to use it on your platform of choice?
i am all for corel going in and giving the gimp some good competition - and even beating macromedia and adobe and others to the OS - this can only bring better products through competition. but the cross-platform payment issue does raise this interesting question. where does it go from here? does microsoft sue corel because they're discriminating against windows?
fross
What you don't pay for in cash, you pay for in other ways:
* you don't get a CD (or you have to burn your own).
* you don't get a printed manual.
* you have to download it, and it's big.
* you don't get technical support.
* you don't get all the perks and thrills that the commercial version packages with it.
Why this can work
Because Corel is giving it away to people who wouldn't ever have bought it anyway. They're not losing sales.
Their commercial offering is going to sell based on its added value: its manual, CD, tech support and a ton of goodies.
Professional users will continue to pay for it based on the added value being worth the price.
The trick is for Corel to make sure the added value is valued...
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Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Corel is really just trying to jump onto the Linux buzzword bandwagon to increase their stock value and maybe make a bit of cash in the long run (by packaging cool Tux toys with the commercial version of their distro, maybe). Obviously, they wouldn't be releasing all this free stuff for Linux if they had not been totally screwed over by Microsoft's business practices that forced WordPerfect out of the market. Corel still doesn't get that they should release source or at least provide binaries for Power PC, Alpha, etc.
However, this is still a good thing for Linux. Maybe not for most Linux users who want source code, but for people who want to see Desktop Software they've heard of on Linux.
Word Perfect Office is a competant office suite, and supports filetypes from MS Word. Corel's graphics package , to my knowledge, provides more mainstream graphics tools than the GIMP.
This will hopefully make people realize that one can use Linux for a desktop OS once they get used to something that looks and feels different than Microsoft Windows. With Corel giving their stuff out for free (even without source), people can check out Linux as a Desktop without it costing them much cash.
Of course, what I'd really like to see now from Corel is support for BeOS and other Operating Systems. I'm sure they could do it, and it would help people see that there is not only one alternative to Microsoft Windows, but many.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
The UI is VERY customizable -- you can configure the toolbars, menus, dialogs, and keys to be whatever and wherever you like.
The GIMP is a great project, and I applaud everyone who has put effort into it. I hope PhotoPaint can serve as a wake-up call and inspire the GIMP people to do some serious UI work.
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Corel announced that they would be offering PhotoPaint for free when their stock was still high, when they were the darling of Wall Street and Bay Street. It just took them a while to get it out.
Be smart and work to create. Don't ride on the backs of others.
Below are the direct links to download this software so you dont have to waste your time trying to surf linux.corel.com :)
CorelPHOTOPAINT9Lnx.tar.gz 182520 Kb Wed Jun 28 21:00:00 2000 Unix Tape Archive
CorelPHOTOPAINT9LnxDEB.tar.gz 91989 Kb Wed Jun 28 20:54:00 2000 Unix Tape Archive
CorelPHOTOPAINT9LnxRPM.tar.gz 92601 Kb Wed Jun 28 20:56:00 2000 Unix Tape Archive
I have a question that's been bugging me. Open source software and GPL is fabulous, but is there a market for commercial software on the Linux platform?
It seems to me as if the Linux culture is based around everything being for free. Maybe there will be some revenue model that will allow this to become mainstream in the future, but for the immediate success of Linux, I wonder the following: is it possible that larger software companies are unwilling to release their main products on Linux because they're worried they won't be able to make money?
Honest, I'm not trying to troll. It's just that this story is the latest to make me wonder about the financial viabillity of Linux as a targetted OS for commercial software.
PhotoPaint 3 was made in 1992. It's not very good.
Photo-Paint 8 is excellent. It it completely cross-compatible with Adobe PhotoShop, that's with file format and layers, and filters, has a debatably easier to use interface that PhotoShop, and is not in any way weaker.
I use both regularly. There are some things that are easier to do in one program, and some that are easier to tdo in the other. I just use them intermittedly, as the file format is interchangable.
Lately, however, I've only really been using PhotoShop for lens flares (this plugin was not licensed to Corel). The programs are otherwise equal, and I don't see why you would think that Corel is admitting to having an inferior product! They're not.
Corel just wants to show this product, so people can download for free and see that Corel wasn't talking crap when they said that they were porting everything to Linux.
Just my CDN$0.02.
People put it down, because it comes as part of the Corel Draw suite, but it is a very good program with quite a professional following. It does everything you'd want from Photoshop, with a less cluttered and confusing interface. It handles some things better than Photoshop, like paletted images. It's also a better choice for doing actual painting work (as opposed to image retouching). Good job Corel!
Comparing Photo Paint to the Gimp is tricky, because the Gimp is such a beast in many ways, at least when you view it through something other than eyes of zealotry. Telling a graphic artist to use The Gimp is like telling a programmer to use lcc over all other compilers. I'm not flaming The Gimp, just pointing out that its main benefits have always been (a) it's free, and (b) it runs under Linux.
I predict that this sort of thing is another perfect example of what Linux needs.
Corel's software isn't beautiful (their Office package is a hell of a lot better than M$, but could be improved), but where they really excel is that my mom has no problem installing and using their products. They're intuitive, they're pretty, there's a lot of hand-holding involved.
And, strangely, people like my parents--and all the business execs and fat cats their age--prefer to pay for their software. "You get what you pay for," they say. "That's the way I was raised, and that's what I think."
In conclusion, paying for software is only good if you somehow can't figure out how to use free software--but anything that brings Linux more mainstream is also good.
"Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."