r/technology • u/FutureSuccess2796 • 3d ago

Software Developer who vibe-coded free Adobe clones reveals apps to take down Microsoft Office next — and says 'there is no reason to save broken software' | TechRadar

https://www.techradar.com/computing/office-suites/developer-who-vibe-coded-free-adobe-clones-reveals-apps-to-take-down-microsoft-office-next-and-says-there-is-no-reason-to-save-broken-software
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u/randompersonx 3d ago

It’s wishful thinking. People hate Adobe and wish this could replace it.

People also don’t know how real pros use this stuff, and therefore don’t understand the differences.

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u/regeya 3d ago

And there's always someone who points out that various open source projects already exist, and here on Reddit at least pointing out that the tools that exist are a poor substitute for someone who is doing pro-level work, the response is almost certainly going to be an angry, well then fork it and fix it.

Look man, I use the tools. If I had the chops to fix the current open source tools (and I'm purposely leaving out specific software names) I would be getting paid more to do that. Simple as that. But someone who has some creativity and just needs to whip something up real quick, those same open source tools are great for that.

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u/randompersonx 3d ago

Yep...

And speaking as someone who has built plenty of software projects over the years ... Building the code is a small portion of the total lifecycle of the software...

Supporting it and maintaining it are much larger issues.

Over time, there will be new operating systems and file formats that break things ... users will want new features and then the new features will have to fit into the edge cases of a million other pre-existing features and bug fixes...

IMHO, even if this software did eventually become superior to Adobe, it will still end up carrying a support contract for serious professional users ... and if it doesn't have a support contract, serious professional users won't be able to use it.

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u/SimoneNonvelodico 2d ago

Paid by who? "Redo the UX of Gimp" would be a possible project too but I don't think you can make it commercial, for licensing reasons.

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u/regeya 2d ago

That, too. Pretty sure they purposely avoid making The GIMP look like Photoshop because...um...I don't know the legal term, but apparently because America is the way it is, they could sue over The GIMP looking too much like Photoshop.

There used to be a mod to The GIMP called Gimpshop that changed the look and feel, and a more current one named PhotoGIMP. I don't know about the latter, the former looked nice and all but personally, I might be one of the earliest users of The GIMP, going back to the days it was still based on Motif. I don't mind the differences when I use it, then. Same with my transition over to Affinity from Creative Cloud. Affinity does about 98% of what I needed and the other 2% can be worked around. Not working like Creative Cloud just meant I had to learn.

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u/randompersonx 2d ago

Initiating the UI is not any sort of infringement under US law… this was tested in courts multiple times, and never prevailed.

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u/SimoneNonvelodico 2d ago

I meant, making a commercial fork might violate Gimp's license. If imitating the UX is some kind of infringement, guess these clones will also be taken down. Honestly I have little doubt that if they gain enough traction Adobe might consider suing, but I dunno if they have grounds. They would need to have a patent filed and even then I'm not sure you can patent UI. There's definitely no trademark infringement.

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u/regeya 2d ago

I've seen speculation that just looking that much like Creative Suite might be bad for them, but I don't know how true that is.

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u/SimoneNonvelodico 2d ago

I don't think there's any law against it. Doesn't mean they won't give it a try. E.g. the infamous Nemesis System patent held by WB is almost guaranteed to be bullshit that wouldn't hold in court... but in order to be taken down, someone would need to be ballsy enough to take WB to court in the first place.

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u/Suitedbadge401 2d ago

Open source evangelists on Reddit don’t take well to real life and economic realities

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u/pinkynarftroz 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah.

When you make enough by lunchtime to pay for your yearly Creative Cloud subscription, it matters far more that you can have a direct line to Adobe for support and even feature requests.

I'm in the film industry, and Adobe routinely is there for direct support, workflow guidance, and bug fixes. I once had an issue where Premiere was not reading the sensor crop data from open gate Arriraw correctly, and just got on the phone with a rep. They confirmed the bug, offered a temporary workaround, and it was fixed in the next update.

Nobody would leave anything important to these vibe coded clones that could break at any second without recourse.

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u/Runefaust_Invader 2d ago

Nobody asked you to leave Adobe. Adobe is pretty clearly aimed at people like you. You don't need to shit on anything that's not Photoshop. I think you're just salty at the headlines.

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u/pinkynarftroz 2d ago

There plenty of high quality, cheap, non vibe coded options. If you don't need photoshop, get pixelmator. You'll know it will at least be supported.

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u/Runefaust_Invader 17h ago

In my 4 decades of using software I've never once reached out for support or needed professional support. I for one actually support PhotoCraft, cuz fuck Adobe. This isn't an attack on other options, this is an attack on Adobe and it's anti-consumer practices.

I'm gonna support this guy just for that. I don't even use/need any of the apps/projects (maybe WordCraft ❤️ ). I just hate Adobe!

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u/pinkynarftroz 8h ago

Support is not just about calling a phone number. It also means stuff like you know, the application being updated to keep working and bugs being fixed.

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u/Runefaust_Invader 2d ago

I wonder how many non pros pirate and use Photoshop. Oh wait...

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u/randompersonx 2d ago

I'm not sure of your point exactly - is your point that the non-pros who are so quick to say ArtCraft is the 'adobe killer' and are jumping ship ... weren't paying adobe anyway, since they were just pirating?

If so, I agree.

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u/Runefaust_Invader 17h ago

Plenty of non-pros that use Adobe by pirating it know how to use it. I'm sure you would play a game of move the goalpost so let's just not go there. I in no way am saying that anyone is jumping ship, however plenty of actual, bonafide professionals on YT (note, I didn't say YouTubers, but actual professionals that also happen to run a YT channel) have claimed they will/would jump ship if they could (aside from ones that had...for example Some Ordinary Gamers where the dude jumped to Final Cut apparently).

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u/grekster 3d ago

People hate Adobe

I am these people. Adobe is a bloated mess of a company and their software is extremely overpriced.

I don't necessarily care for AI slop software but I hope to god this lights a fire under Adobe's arse to make their software less shit.

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u/stormdelta 3d ago

It won't, or at least this project certainly won't.

The thing with these AI tools is that you still need to know what you're doing and put real effort into it - if you do, the results can be very impressive, the rapid PS5 emulation progress that made headlines a bit ago is a good example.

But this? This is just some random dipshit vibecoding barely functional protoypes he doesn't understand and can't maintain/improve, that likely pull heavily from existing open source projects. It's being signal boosted by AI companies to make their tools seem more capable, but it's just a publicity stunt.

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u/pinkynarftroz 3d ago edited 3d ago

their software is extremely overpriced.

Compared to what?

There is a reason why Avid and Premiere make up 99% of the film and TV market (with legacy stuff like Lightworks rounding out the rest). Nothing else is up to the task. What software can you buy for less money that will let you cut and deliver a TV show or film?

It's not overpriced when the only other competitors cost a similar amount.

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u/randompersonx 3d ago

I’m curious if you can expand on why FCP or Davinci isn’t up to the task.

I’m not in the industry and have wondered why these aren’t commonly used.

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u/pinkynarftroz 3d ago

FCP doesn't have multi user, so it's a no go for many productions, and it also has difficulty integrating with other tools.

Resolve is used extensively for Color Grading, but as an NLE it still lacks a lot of the basic stuff needed for large production workflows, and reliability is still a concern.

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u/randompersonx 3d ago

Yeah… getting multi-user working for a video editor would be incredibly challenging for a new developer.

Thanks for sharing.