Adobe Forums: Adobe Reader for x86/x64 Solaris

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(Skip_Montanaro),

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Jul 2, 2007 5:34 AM

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Amen to that. I downloaded v8.1 on my Mac over the weekend. I see I
can get v7 for Solaris/*SPARC*. (Are there any Solaris users who
still actually use SPARC if they don't have to?) Why are we still
stuck on v4 Solaris/Intel with its crappy Motif interface?

Skip Montanaro

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(Aaron_K_Wilson),

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Sep 17, 2007 2:30 PM

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I too would be greatly interested in a x86 version for Solaris 10. Who uses Sparc these days besides Sun. Now with IBM announcing they will sell systems with Solaris 10 on Intel Processors it makes even more sense.

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(Cesar_Dominguez),

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Oct 20, 2007 10:47 AM

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Anyone of you already get solved or have a work around, I just want to get access to pdf files on my x86 Solaris 10? same as you.

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(Skip_Montanaro),

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Oct 20, 2007 12:07 PM

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My current workaround is to define acroread like this:

#!/bin/sh
ssh somelinuxhost acroread "$@"

This only works because we have Linux machines and widely deployed NFS.

Skip

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(Bruce_Schuck),

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Dec 8, 2007 11:34 AM

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The version 4 release mentioned earlier can be found here:

http://download.adobe.com/pub/adobe/acrobatreader/unix/4.x/sunx86-ar-4 05.tar.gz

That said, I've sent bug and feedback requests a few times in the last few months. Not one response explaining why Adobe has chosen to not release current versions of Reader for Solaris x86.

- Bruce Schuck
Sr. Unix Administrator
Northrop Grumman / USPS

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(Skip_Montanaro),

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Dec 8, 2007 11:55 AM

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Yes, we have the v4 release, but, well, it pretty much sucks. I did send a message to a person at Adobe who replied that

Contrary to what people presume, coming out with a huge product like a Reader on an additional platform, isn't simply a re-compile. There are various 3rd party components that the Reader ships with (internal and external) and the team needs to evaluate what the schedule for these dependencies would have, also there's a ton of extra testing involved the moment we add an additional platform. Also, there's market viability, where we look at the numbers or the traction a platform is getting before we take a decision.

It's not clear to me that if they have versions for both Linux/x86 and Solaris/SPARC that creating a version for Solaris/x86 should be all that difficult. I can't think of where they would have library problems. I do understand the testing point. Testing GUI-based programs is a human-intensive undertaking. I don't understand how "market viability" for Solaris/SPARC could be better than Solaris/x86 at this point.

He also included a pointer to the Adobe 8.1.1 FAQ: http://blogs.adobe.com/acroread/2007/09/adobe_reader_811_faqs.html

Skip

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(Bruce_Schuck),

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Dec 8, 2007 2:09 PM

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Wow, you got a response from someone at Adobe!

I think the library dependency issue is a smoke screen. Shared libs are more likely to change frequently on Linux than on a vendor supplied OS. As for testing, isn't that a little of what labs.adobe.com is for? Let the user community download beta/pre-release versions and report back on bugs and other issues? Of course initial testing would be done by Adobe engineers. Then if you believe the comment about market viability, why did Flash get released for Solaris x86? Obviously someone thought that there were enough Solaris x86 users out there to release current versions of that...

- Bruce

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(Viraj_Chatterjee),

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Dec 9, 2007 12:00 PM

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Bruce,

If you notice my response to Skip, I did mention - internal and external libraries. There are various Adobe owned libraries that ship with the Reader product and unfortunately all those aren't owned by the Reader team. Call this a problem with large companies which have several products and thereby several product teams.

In such cases, having an additional platform in the radar of the other teams is equally important.

Regarding putting this on labs, well we would still need tons of testing before that could be done, so it's an extremely naive suggestion that just some "initial testing" would be enough.

Regarding market viability, that's something that is evaluated all the times and decisions do change. The Flash Player is a much smaller code base and perhaps aren't plagued by the dependencies that the Reader has.

In short, we do understand the frustrations users like you have when a product like the Reader isn't supported on your favorite platform, however we are recording all feedback.

-vc

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(Bruce_Schuck),

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Dec 26, 2007 11:45 AM

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Wow... being condescending to your customer base isn't exactly in the customer service handbook!

My suggestion about *initial* testing wasn't naive. As I didn't say -some- initial testing would need to be done before releasing on labs.adobe.com. I just stated that initial testing would need to be done and did not qualify how much testing. It seemed obvious to me that whatever is released to the Labs site would go through quite a bit of internal testing.

As for the library issue, I still don't see it as much different as a library issue would be for Flash, which is available for Solaris x86. Maybe I'm among the minority, but I would rather have Reader on my Solaris 10 x86 workstation over Flash...

- Bruce

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(Viraj_Chatterjee),

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Jan 2, 2008 3:56 AM

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Bruce, If you could share your email with the Program Manager - Anupam Garg <agarg at adobe dot com>, we'll make sure we inform users like you whenever we have the Solaris Reader available on your platform.<br /><br />-vc

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(David_E_Lane),

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Jan 11, 2008 4:06 AM

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I really don't understand the adobe issues here. Surely of all the Solaris incarnations the x86/64 version is the one which will be providing 'desktop' services be they on fat client workstations or through Sun Ray. Sparc servers will still be around but as the backoffice work horse.

If there is any version of 'desktop' application released for Solaris it would be fair to expect that the x86/64 incarnation would come to market before the Sparc version.

It's nonsensical for Adobe to harp on about libraries, testing, etc., etc. as Solaris 10 x86 isn't new it has been around for at least a couple of years so plenty of time for all the converting & testing ! Solaris 10 x86 is also being shipped by many hardware vendors not least Dell & is free to download. So there's a big market there.

If a commercial organization completely ignores a large market then we have to question the motives, have they simply missed a trick or is the decision political ?

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(John_Shott),

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Jan 11, 2008 12:32 PM

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Hello Adobe Reader community:

I just want to echo some of the things that David Lane has indicated. I work at a research university that is close to Adobe's "home office" and also maintain strong ties with Sun. Among the community of folks that I know, most (if not all) that are buying Sun hardware and running Solaris on it are doing so on x86/x64 platforms. It certainly seems as if the x86/x64 platforms provide a good performance to price ratio.

In our operation, we (as David Lane surmised ....) are running Sunrays on the client side and use x86/x64 machines both as our Sunray servers, as our database/application servers, and as our RAID array and tape backup machines. The only SPARC platforms are legacy systems and I'm not sure that we envision the need for future SPARC machines.

I'm confident that there will be much happiness in this community when Reader is available on Solaris x86/x64 platforms.

Thank you for your consideration,

John

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(John_Shott),

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Mar 8, 2008 11:34 AM

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Adobe:

Is there any news on the release of Adobe Reader for Solarix x86_64 platorms? Two to three months ago, Adobe seemed to indicate that this was in the works. Is there an update? When can we expect to see a release on this platform?

Thanks,

John

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(Bruce_Schuck),

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Apr 19, 2008 2:28 PM

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I sent an email to the Program Manager noted a few posts back. Hopefully he will post a reply here. If he responds to me, I will post his answer.

- Bruce

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(Bruce_Schuck),

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Apr 22, 2008 7:51 AM

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It appears to be good news! This is the response I received from the program manager.

"We are aware of this concern and actively working on this. The target is to have x86 support in our next major release - Reader 9 for Linux/Solaris - the exact date for this release however is still not final."

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(GauravJain),

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May 22, 2008 11:28 PM

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Here's the official announcement: http://blogs.adobe.com/acroread/2008/05/adobe_reader_on_solaris_x86_c o.html

Gaurav

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(I_D_Robinson),

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Sep 10, 2008 4:53 PM

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Hello - Transitive has release a new product that allows Adobe Reader 8.1.2 for Solaris to run on Solaris/x86 systems. This cross-platfrom virtualization product can be downloaded at:

http://www.transitive.com/reader

Known as QuickTransit for Solaris/x86 with Adobe Reader, the new product provides all of the functionality of Adobe Reader 8.1.2 for SPARC, but on a Solaris/x86 platform, without recompilation or porting. More information (including Adobe's comments) can be found here:

http://www.transitive.com/news/press_full/145

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(Andrew_DLL),

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Nov 1, 2008 9:01 AM

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Solaris
i x86
already has "
b xpdf
".
It is bundled with the OS.
So, it should also exist on
i SPARC
.

It is a third party software. Presumably free. But you may support it with donations.

Works and prints reasonably well. Far better than other PDF utilities bundled with this OS.
The others do not print or display well. Some fail on either function.
Solaris has at least 3 other utilities supposedly capable to work with PDF. None of them match "
b xpdf
" in efficiency. So I won't even mention them, as they are a waste of your precious time.

"
b xpdf
" Does not allow to select text. But allows search.
I did not try forms. I presume it does not work with forms.

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(Andrew_DLL),

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Nov 1, 2008 2:19 PM

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The Web site of the author:
http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf
I would praise the Xpdf program: it is really small and fast.

I have read that Adobe plans to port the Reader to
b Solaris x86
. I think Adobe could
b contract
the maker of "
b xpdf
".

The author of Xpdf may
b help
Adobe with all the issues of Solaris OS and specifics of both SPARC and x86. Obviously, Xpdf deals with PDF format specifically. So, the author is also profoundly proficient in the subject.
On the other hand, it is possible that the author is not familiar with Solaris x86. Maybe SUN simply recompiled his source code.

It is but a pity though that the author spent so much time on inventing this engine just because Adobe did not care to. Now that the Adobe Reader finally arrives to Solaris x86 it
b obsoletes
the effort of the author of Xpdf.

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(Konstantin_by),

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Nov 2, 2008 3:31 PM

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Andrew I think its will be solaris x86 support

Good Luck.
______
My Si tes

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(John_Shott),

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Jan 20, 2009 9:20 AM

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Adobe:

Any update on when Adobe Reader will appear for the Solaris x86/64 platform?

Thanks,

John

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KRossing,

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Feb 12, 2009 8:52 AM

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Hi,

We are wondering when this is going to be released OR if it has been pushed back/canceled.

Thanks
Karl

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(GauravJain),

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Mar 9, 2009 11:13 PM

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It's going to be released very soon now.

The Sneak Preview of this upcoming release was posted yesterday on the Blog at:

http://blogs.adobe.com/acroread/2009/03/sneak_preview_of_adobe_reader. html

-Gaurav

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(GauravJain),

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Mar 25, 2009 9:53 PM

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It's here!

Please see http://blogs.adobe.com/acroread/2009/03/adobe_reader_91_for_linux_and .html

-Gaurav

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(Andrew_DLL),

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Mar 31, 2009 6:14 AM

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I would like to ask Adobe:
Did you
b contract
the
b author
of
b xpdf
, as I suggested earlier? Did he help you? Or did you ignore him?

I am just curious. It would save everybody's time.

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Adobe Reader for x86/x64 Solaris

Jun 26, 2007 10:45 PM

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