I am once again asking for DO on linux. I have been pulling my hair out trying to recreate my workflow on linux. Staying on Windows is not worth it, no matter how good DO is, but I would pay $90 AGAIN just to use it on linux. None of the file managers available on linux come close to the feature set DO offers, even some of the more advanced CLI ones. I'm so annoyed every time I use my file manager that it's not DOpus.
Please consider porting it. I would pay again. I'll pay double. I'll pay a subscription. (That one was a joke, let me own my software lol)
I don't need suggestions on what to replace it with, as I've been going through this for months and searching the whole time. I've tried every popular file manager in existence it feels like.
Thank you,
-a customer who would pay $180 to use modern DO on linux
I've got Dopus 12 (I think 32bits) working in Wine, but I don't know if all the features work. Don't run Linux daily. Unfortunately, we as users do not know what is wrong (gdi32.dll error) when trying to run dopus 13 in linux, or what is the difference between the two. We can only hope that some Dopus geek starts programming with Wine so he/she solves it for us. I'm stuck with Windows and hope that when Windows can't be used anymore, there is a Dopus version that works in Wine. Dopus to Linux native will probably never happen unfortunately.
Windows represents around 75% of desktop systems (and programs from the 90s can still run on Windows 11).
Mac represents around 15%, and each new version breaks backward compatibility...
Linux represents around 3% (for 20 years...) and the majority of its users don't want to pay for software. (Especially software like DO, which is the most expensive file manager.) What's more, there are over 600 distributions, most of which are incompatible.
There are no truly multi-platform, efficient development languages (virtual machines are just a patch).
It takes almost as long to adapt for each OS, so very few if any commercial development companies will launch a Linux program (for 3% of buyers).
If you're prepared to pay the salaries of at least two developers for at least six months (and that's a long way from $90 in total), I'm sure DO will make you a version that's just right for you.
Considering the amount of features, how widespread they are, how deep some of them are related to the underlying system/OS and abstraction layers offered by the said OS, everything that has to be put in place before even starting (techical/software architecture redesign, development/testing environments, CI/CD, testing, ...), I think that the effort goes far beyond 250 man/days , and I'm not even talking about the maintenance effort to then develop/fix everything in two parallel branches of code.
Linux folks freaked out when market share reached 4%.
Next milestone would be 5%...
I still miss a decent Integrated Development Environment on Linux which would fit in this image:
ARM Win | Intel/AMD Win | macOS
-------------------------+-------
VS |
-------------------------| Xcode
| CB | Delphi |
(VS = Visual Studio; CB = C++Builder)
That each new macOS version would break compatibility is overstated.
I would say it is still in its infancy, comparable to Windows XP times, and it has more potential.
The reason is the limited hardware range.
I can use a Mac since about a year.
It started with macOS 13 (Ventura) and is now on macOS 15 (Sequoia). I did not have compatibility issues, and serious software is quickly adapted.
I'm disappointed with current Windows 11 usability.
Still using Windows 10 with best usability so far.
Unfortunately must switch to a new main system soon with Windows 11.
Can't use it without patches to achieve the same usability as Windows 10.
Unfortunately DOpus can't do this (Taskbar and Start Menu issues), so need additional tools like Windhawk to fix it.
The regression of Windows 11 in usability even before Windows XP era and the need to fix it with extra tools is devastating.
older dopus versions from version 6 to 11 work because this *.dll is probably not used!
tried again today and it is immediately blocked instead of being installed.
older dopus versions from version 6 to 11 work, because this current *.dll is probably not used!
the statement referred to the gdi32.dll that is currently installed in the wine package with linux.
if this were still the same, dopus would actually have to start.
In 04.2024 the 13.4 could be installed, but showed the error message after starting.
now the installation is immediately refused. (*.dll probably not compatible)
While I agree that it's not nearly as profitable as Windows (or at all), the 4% market share doesn't mean DO will sell 4% as much as the windows version necessarily. The target audience for DO is (as far as I understand) enthusiasts and experts, not at all casual users. And linux is basically ALL enthusiasts and experts.
That is a good point about linux users not wanting to pay for software, but I'd say most linux users don't use linux just because it is free as in free beer. I (and at least many of those I know) would gladly pay for quality linux software if that was the only way that software could exist. Take a look at Cursr for example. It's a subscription model for software that I and many others pay for on Linux because it's the ONLY thing that does what it does.
I obviously don't know the details of DO's finances, nor do I have ANY experience in finance, but this model has worked elsewhere, so I don't see why it couldn't work for DO, with enough effort. Hell, I don't even need a 1:1 port, just the specific functions that most other file managers do not have.
As far as the distro thing, many programs can work on the most popular distros. You could make a .deb and .rpm and then let other users build from source or something. (I don't think DO is open source which would nix that idea though.) But even just the .deb and .rpm builds would cover a very large part of the target audience.
For sure it won't be possible.
Just take the scripts, at least a part of them won't be portable (everything calling powershell, calling dos commands, or relying on WSH for instance). And as soon as there would be a linux version, same thing would occur the other way around.
This subject could easily be talked about for hours, and as much as I would appreciate to have an Opus instance running on my NAS(es), the fact that it's been requested for years (decades ?), and that no hint has been given that it was something "in the plans" (pretty much the opposite), I think we're just wasting time or we're day dreaming (which can be satisfying sometimes ).
This is personal opinion, but if I had to bet one month salary on this to happen or not one day, I'd definitely choose the later.
The tiny market share would be OK if it were some kind of vanguard or reference for OS development.
I think that is how many Linux people see it.
But I suspect this is an illusion.
Linux may be a good server system.
But as a Linux desktop user you place yourself BESIDE (not to say outside) the "common reality".
The question is: Are you ABOVE reality as a vanguard or reference?
I doubt it.
I recommend to read the articles on the C++Builder anniversary site for background about special requirements for GUI application development which isn't Linux's strong point.
Yes there is different understanding of free, but responsibility is an important value as well.
It is also interesting to watch the Long Term History market share.
I don't assume that the apparent decline of Windows and rise of macOS will continue linearly, although Microsoft try their best with the mentioned Windows 11 usability regression , but I recommend to keep an eye on further macOS progression...
That's a good point, though I'm not one of the people who see Linux as some sort of reference for OS development. It is a good point against those who claim Linux "should" be used or developed for because of those reasons.
In the recent years Linux usability for the "average" user has gotten much better, and while I don't actually know the statistics off the top of my head, anecdotally, many people I know have started using it as their daily drivers (mostly due to the current Windows 11 situation).
I can't really talk about the bigger picture myself, but I can say I'm using linux as a (somewhat) easy and (nearly completely) functional replacement for Windows and all of its software. There have been many programs that I haven't been able to find on Linux, but so far I've been able to find equivalent or better replacements for all of them (until now, that is). I kind of figured the ultimate answer would be "No" but I felt an obligation to post and ask here anyway, because if nobody ever asked for anything, things would never get done. Sometimes shouting into the void yields results, even if it usually doesn't.
Maybe you are on a stopover on the way to the most popular form of Unix, to get that bigger picture:
(Propaganda Duel Live in London - German synth-pop band)
In that regard Linux is closer to macOS than Windows, especially on the command line. Actually Z shell (zsh) is the default shell in macOS, which is largely compatible with other Unix shells. Windows (Command Prompt etc.) is pretty different (more basic, less extensive).
Regarding shouting into the void:
It is about as likely to yield results as you being able to shout as expertly as those folks:
(Tears For Fears Shout Official Music Video - English synth-pop band)
Directory Opus for Mac is far away as well, but may be a little bit more likely.
The second plot is illuminating:
Join voice with a larger community and it will be more likely to happen.
I have written an own article with a rough description of the bigger picture and how the Mac fits in it.
The market share reflects the corresponding conditions.