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Ask Slashdot: Switching To a GNU/Linux Distribution For a Webdesign School
spadadot writes: I manage a rapidly growing webdesign school in France with 90 computers for our students, dispatched across several locations. By the end on the year it will amount to 200. Currently, they all run Windows 8 but we would love to switch to a GNU/Linux distribution (free software, easier to deploy/maintain and less licensing costs). The only thing preventing us is Adobe Photoshop which is only needed for a small amount of work. The curriculum is highly focused on coding skills (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP/MySQL) but we still need to teach our students how to extract images from a PSD template. The industry format for graphic designs is PSD so The Gimp (XCF) is not really an option. Running a Windows VM on every workstation would be hard to setup (we redeploy all our PCs every 3 months) and just as costly as the current setup. Every classroom has at least 20Mbit/s — 1Mbit/s ADSL connection so maybe setting up a centralized virtualization server would work? How many Windows/Photoshop licenses would we need then? Anything else Slashdot would recommend?
I have opened a heck of a lot of psd files in GIMP, and saved to that format as well. Easy enough to find out - try it on Windows GIMP if you need to make sure. If you're just extracting images I would think GIMP would work perfectly. I still use GIMP as my main heavy photo editor.
Licensing, for one. They'd need a license for each VM, which kind of defeats the purpose of switching to Linux for the sake of lower costs.
Not sure why this hasn't been mentioned yet, but depending on what version you want to run, Photoshop runs quite well on Linux under WINE depending on what version you need to use, including CS6 and Creative Cloud versions. If you require support, Code Weavers packages a popular and easy-to-use version of WINE with varying levels of technical support available for purchase. (No affiliation with Code Weavers, just a happy customer.)
If you want to get fancy (i.e. complicated), you can probably set up some sort of application server that will allow you to limit the number of Photoshop licenses you need to purchase, but that's a bit out of scope for a simple Slashdot comment. :)
- Dave
Evil is as eval("does");
You would also need a different server license for each old version of IE to emulate
Nope, IE VMs for testing are free....
Official VM's for testing IE versions are available from Microsoft:
http://dev.modern.ie/tools/vms/windows/
From the webpage:
"Download virtual machines: Test versions of IE from 6 through 11 using virtual machines you download and manage locally"
but we still need to teach our students how to extract images from a PSD template. The industry format for graphic designs is PSD so The Gimp (XCF) is not really an option
Really? Sure i'd chose photoshop over gimp, but i'd choose nether for web design... manipulating rasters for anything more than tweaking images should not be part of modern web design, slicing up images is 1990, don't teach this, design with grid systems, use pen and paper or a wireframing tool, teach typography, the rest is code.
Parent should maybe be modded up. I mean, if Trump can get away with insulting an entire gender, pointing out that someone who claims to know what he's doing appears instead to be full of shit should be acceptable on slashdot.
As a possibly useful point of information: GIMP seems to handle .psd files perfectly well. I just saved a triple layer .xcf that used a mask and partial opacity as a .psd and then imported it back into GIMP with no discernible damage. YMMV of course. But page templates should not be using esoteric features. ( BTW, the .psd was 134% the size of the .xcf--- but Adobe never did understand the value of efficient data structures. Students who sometimes have to work with low capacity thumb drives do, though.)
Will
WRONG.
This is an example of someone who has not explored the Linux alternatives thoroughly before deciding that since it is free it cannot possibly do the job. Or maybe he's going on what he heard a few years ago, and doesn't realize that major FOSS software like GIMP are undergoing quiet, continuous improvements and upgrades.
In either case, this is not an example of "a real problem with Linux, where some major and/or important products simply don't work and the open-source alternatives won't cut it." There are definitely still such examples out there, but this is not one of them.
Will
As a possibly useful point of information: GIMP seems to handle a limited selection of .psd files perfectly well.
FTFY.
Gimp can only handle .psd files that use the sRGB colorspace with 8-bit planes. It fucking shits itself with any other colorspace or higher bit depths. I haven't tried it but I hear that Krita (which originated from Gimp) can handle other colorspaces and higher bit depths so it may handle a larger selection of .psd files.
Depends on the license terms. Some of the cheap OEM licenses are only applicable when running bare metal on a particular machine. If you want to run them in a VM, then you may need a different license. If you get audited and are not in compliance then you can be hit with a very large fine, or you can go to court and try to get that clause in the EULA invalidated (good luck doing this for less than the cost of the fine). If you're going to run proprietary software as part of your business, then make sure that you factor in compliance audits and lawyer time reading the EULAs into your TCO calculations.
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