The developer “PhialsBasement” has submitted patches for Wine that finally allows Linux users to run the installer for Adobe Creative Cloud. The lack of these tools on Linux has been a big pain point for those who want to use Linux but also need to use the professional creative tools.
The patches fix an issue in the installer which made it crash because of how it handled JavaScript and XML. The installer uses JavaScript to talk to the operating system and previously, Wine was delegating certain IDs incorrectly which broke the communication.
The core issue is that Windows is lazy with XML rules but Linux tools like libxml2 are strict. The patch fixes this by wrapping specific Adobe data in CDATA tags so that Linux doesn’t reject the code. The patch also forces Wine to handle events the way Internet Explorer 9 used to, which is what the Adobe installer expects.
While the installer now works correctly, it’s still not perfect to use. While Photoshop 2021 is noted by the developer as running smoothly, they did note that drag-and-drop didn’t work quite right, but that it could be a Wayland issue. Photoshop 2025 was also installable.
The code was initially submitted to ValveSoftware/wine on GitHub, however, commenters recommended submitting it to WineHQ first. If this patch stays in a fork only the gamers using Steam might get it, but not other Wine users. By submitting it upstream to WineHQ it will become a permanent part of the ecosystem for everyone.
With plenty of Windows games working on Linux via Steam’s Proton (also based on Wine), Office 365 being available in the cloud, and now Photoshop via Wine coming on in leaps and bounds, the excuses for not using Linux are shrinking by the day. Hopefully, all of this allows more people to preserve older hardware once Windows support is dropped without too much inconvenience.
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