Citing ongoing litigation, Adobe is warning its customers of legal problems if they keep using old versions of Creative Cloud apps. It has not stated yet with whom or what it has the dispute, but early indicators suggest that it may be over copyright. Going forward Adobe is only supporting the two most recent versions of its Creative Cloud services.
"Adobe recently discontinued certain older versions of Creative Cloud applications. Customers using those versions have been notified that they are no longer licensed to use them and were provided guidance on how to upgrade to the latest authorized versions," said Adobe in a statement to AppleInsider.
"Unfortunately, customers who continue to use or deploy older, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud may face potential claims of infringement by third parties. We cannot comment on claims of third-party infringement, as it concerns ongoing litigation."
Instead, users are receiving the equivalent of a cease and desist email, informing them that the apps that they are using are discontinued.
Gimp and Darktable are not perfect replacements but may be close enough for many hobbyists and maybe a handful of professionals.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday May 15 2019, @03:21PM (4 children)
I can definitely get behind this feature: "Non-destructive editing throughout the complete workflow, your original images are never modified."
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @03:37PM (3 children)
have no business editing images. Too much of ugly stuff made even uglier litters the intarwebs as it is.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday May 15 2019, @03:45PM (2 children)
"Non-destructive editing" also means you can make changes to lower layers and have the upper layers automatically reapply filters and reflect those changes. Adobe Photoshop has had adjustment layers since version 4. (That's not CS4, just 4, released in November 1996.) GIMP 2.10 still doesn't [pixls.us] except for faking Levels with layer blending modes [tablix.org].
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @04:30PM
The poster to whom you responded was talking about Darktable, not GIMP.
On the other hand, destructive editing has the advantage of requiring fewer resources. I prefer GIMP to non-destructive editors (even those which are open source) for that reason and because of a few basic features it offers, which are not offered in Photoshop and other image editors. Also, Since it is open source, it is easy to install and there is no aggravation from registration nor licensing nor subscription. Of course, GIMP is free to use and free from spy ware (doesn't "phone home").
In addition, there are many acclaimed Photoshop features that originated in GIMP and other open source software. Actually, right now there are basic, very useful features that GIMP possesses for which Photoshop users must do "work-arounds" to duplicate.
Open source is usually where one finds the cutting edge.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday May 16 2019, @08:38AM
Maybe Krita is enough for those needing adjustment layers.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @03:33PM
Last version I've installed for those occasions where I need to use Adobe for anything, for reasons your favourite search engine will disclose..
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday May 15 2019, @03:33PM (1 child)
On the other hand, you can offload a lot of liability issues onto the provider, if you demand a better contract, which I doubt anybody does.
Oh well, Photoshop 7 still works perfectly (so does Pagemaker), and the desktop icons work... If you wanna go all modern and stuff, CS6 is the last "local" version...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @07:03PM
CS6?
I thought that version dialled home, ISTR a place I worked at getting a rather snotty letter from Adobe about their less than legal copy, suggesting strongly that they purchase a subscription to the cloudy service, lest the BSA get involved...
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Hyperturtle on Wednesday May 15 2019, @04:18PM (3 children)
What a brave new world. Not upgrading will become illegal subject to enforcement by 3rd parties? That's crazy. It's not like they sold stolen property. Punishing the consumer for agreeing to the EULA shouldn't make them financially liable for Adobe's missteps.
The fact people SUBSCRIBE to this software, and actively pay--and are still in violation because of Adobe's ineptness is just mind boggling.
I think the leader of the modern Adobe's Creative Cloud City was right--Billy Dee Williams had once said "This deal's getting worse all the time!"
Hmm, based on my limited research, I believe this video explains the updated EULA and upgrade policy... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpE_xMRiCLE [youtube.com]
This strong-arming to ensure forced upgrades shouldn't be permissible; it is no different than a protection racket shakedown. Nice software you have; it'd be a shame if you, your business, and anything that touched it somehow becomes evidence and your assets frozen to be used as exhibits in a legal case brought against you for rampant policy violations because you didn't read our updated policy on our website which you agreed to adhere to by the very nature of double clicking a desktop icon that launches the software you use daily.
At least Darth Vadar showed up in person to explain the new terms to Billy Dee, right? He didn't send an email to someone's spam folder to explain why customer service is very important so please click here for our new terms.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday May 15 2019, @05:34PM (1 child)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Wednesday May 15 2019, @07:37PM
Yes. IP law is badly broken.
--
Surely not everybody was kung fu fighting?
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday May 15 2019, @07:33PM
It's even worse than that. It only takes one click to launch an app from my application dock!
--
Research shows that 6 out of 7 dwarves aren't happy.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @04:54PM
We are finally seeing the true end game. Licensed software has a place, but mostly companies are moving into the rent seeking space. It won't end well, this is simply a less stratified version of ye ole aristocracy. Fundamentally we need to reevaluate how personal freedom and society intersect.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday May 15 2019, @05:37PM (1 child)
You cannot trust it to continue working for you long-term.
You cannot trust it to function properly.
You cannot trust it to be secure.
You cannot trust it to protect your privacy (indeed, you can pretty much guarantee the opposite).
If you're relying on it to do anything more important than entertain you for a few hours killing zombies or something, you're making a mistake.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday May 16 2019, @10:42AM
Yep. Basically, all proprietary software guarantees you is more headache. People needing features exclusive of proprietary products are better off forming a consortium paying programmers to add those features to the functionally nearer FOSS package.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Alfred on Wednesday May 15 2019, @05:59PM
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Wednesday May 15 2019, @06:27PM (1 child)
Ok, I haven't touched adobe shit in a long, long time, but I was under the impression that the ENTIRE POINT of this creative "cloud" shit was so they could flip a switch and disable access to their software to enable their subscription nonsense.
If someone can continue using old versions of software without Adobe's authorization or support, then what the hell is even "cloudy" about it?
And sending out legal nastygrams to end users? How very SCO of them.
(Score: 3, Informative) by EvilSS on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:19PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15 2019, @08:14PM (3 children)
Whenever you need to use Adobe, disconnect from the internet to stop it phoning home. Super inconvenient but better than a lawyer letter.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @01:54AM
I've got a friend who has a hard drive that never connects to the net. It has made sure old software keeps running, for a non-techie I was pretty impressed by that dedication.
The new model is using updates to break old software and force new purchases. Scum of scum.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @06:30AM (1 child)
Or run it in a VM that's not given a virtual network adapter.
Bonus with a VM - you can move the VM file around and it's like a portable app.
Goddess, how I wish more proprietary devs released software as portable apps the way that PuTTY and a few others do. Makes me MUCH more willing to pay for the closed binary, knowing I can move and use it without needing some "install" process to hook it into the OS.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @09:05AM
there is software out there to turn non-portable apps into portable ones, I used Spoon Studio a few years ago to turn a copy of Enroute (CAD/CAD/CNC) we were using at work into a portable app.
The current favourite tool for doing this seems to be something called Cameyo, never tried it though (hardly use windows anymore..).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @08:38PM
act like a slave, get treated like a slave. you support the enemy of your grandchildren for some perceived short term benefit? you deserve to get screwed.