Adobe no more reader downloads for unix ?

[weha]

I have the reader installed and just wanted to check if there was a newer version for Unix.
Unfortunately the drop down box for version selection no longer shows 'Unix' or 'Linux'
That would be bad news for me as I still need acroread and obviously would want the
latest Linux version.

[weha]

Indeed, I've read elsewhere Adobe has stopped updating the Linux version.
Personally I can live very well with Okular but yes, Adobe was the more fancy one.

LibreOffice Writer also does a good job with pdf's like adding or deleting individual sheets in a multi page document.

That will become a problem for me in the future as no other reader is compatible with our IRS efiling site. I will just have to use my current reader version 9.5.5-1
in perpetuity.

[ronw]

This is one of the reasons I'm forced to keep a copy of Windows in a virtual machine.

Too many government agencies in the US still insist on creating PDFs with Acrocrap that include either proprietary or not well supported options, like javascript. Yeah, javascript in a PDF; sounds like a great idea to me.

[vinnywright]

you can still get the 9.5.5-1 i386 ver.

vinny@vinnys-HP-G62:~$  cd ~/Downloads && wget -c http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/unix/9.x/9.5.5/enu/AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb
--2014-08-09 15:01:05--  http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/unix/9.x/9.5.5/enu/AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb
Resolving ardownload.adobe.com (ardownload.adobe.com)... 23.74.9.32, 23.74.9.75
Connecting to ardownload.adobe.com (ardownload.adobe.com)|23.74.9.32|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 60085406 (57M) [application/x-deb]
Saving to: ‘AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb’

100%[========================================================================>] 60,085,406  1.38MB/s   in 43s    

2014-08-09 15:01:49 (1.32 MB/s) - ‘AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb’ saved [60085406/60085406]

right click the .deb and open in Qapt
requires more packages



clicking OK and install



open with adobe reader 9 option in dolphin



seams to still work.............................................. ..........



VINNY

[DrGeoffrey]

Or, if having the latest is necessary, you can try running it under Wine. FYI: PlayonLinux makes installing and running many Windows applications almost a trivial experience. Disclaimer: Not the latest MS Office applications. For some odd reason, MS seems determined to sabotage every effort.

Not a loss, really. LibreOffice has been better office suite for some time.

[weha]

As mentioned before I have 9.5.5-1 in Kubuntu 14.04, so I reckon I will be OK for nearly 5 years. My other Xubuntu 14.04 only has support for 3 years, so after that I have no idea whether or not 9.5.5-1 will run on the next release.
The problem will be our revenue service where adobe is needed in order to view/save notifications. I already need to use Google Chrome on their site because the linux adobe flash versions do not work there.
I am very reluctant to use Wine, and if I do surely I will not be able to use the reader in a browser, only as a local application to open pdf files ?
Oh well, have written to our revenue service http://www.sars.gov.za/Pages/default.aspx requesting an alternative method to view/save those files.

[vinnywright]

I an confused (not that it maters) but I am on the linked to site right now viewing one of their PDF's in firefox using Adobe right now ?

VINNY

oops my bad that must be firefoxes PDF viewer

[vinnywright]

OK after changing firfox's application settings to open PDF's with Adobe 9



it seams to work

VINNY

[weha]

OK after changing firfox's application settings to open PDF's with Adobe 9

it seams to work

VINNY

Apologies vinny, I wasn't very precise. Yes, at the moment there is no problem. I am just concerned about what the future holds, eg. when 14.04 LTS life cycle ends and I install the next LTS version. If the next LTS version won't run Adobe Reader 9.5.5-1, I am in a spot. Try and open that form with Okular/Evince/XPDF and, having interactive form fields, you will not be able to either open it at all, or the form fields won't function, or you will receive the message in the viewer as shown in the image.

[Silent Observer]

I suppose a bunch of us could gang together and force the IRS (under Federal regulations) to provide those documents in an alternate format, once we're unable to read them in Adobe Reader because it's stopped supporting Linux. Mind you, they'd probably just say "these are available in printed form, get a pen and fill them in (and be sure to use black ink)." Seems to me one of the computers in my house was able to fill in a PDF form from Okular a few days ago, but it wouldn't work on my computer when I tried to re-fill it to print (network printing was insisting in printing in color, which was coming out pink due to low ink). Maybe there's been a regression in Okular since the version that's in the Mepis 11 repos?

[theAdmiral71]

There is almost always at least one workaround when approached by problems such as that which you mention in this thread. In my experience, workarounds suffice until a fix is offered, and then when the fix arrives it works far better than expected, so don't give up hope.

[theAdmiral71]

I would not expect anything from the people at the following web address:

forums.adobe.com/community/adobe_reader_forums

(The web address just above is an https address---the Kubuntu forum would not let me post it because that was my first post.)

I would not expect much from the Adobe forum because I tried to use that forum quite some time ago and I did not receive much in the form of a return answer.

However, the issue that you bring up in this thread is completely unrelated to mine, as I recall, and therefore you may get an entirely different response. I encourage you to not give up until you have found your answer. After all, electronic communications are supposed to simplify life, in general---not make it more difficult.

[GreyGeek]

.... when 14.04 LTS life cycle ends and I install the next LTS version. If the next LTS version won't run Adobe Reader 9.5.5-1, I am in a spot. ...

That "spot" won't appear till April, 2019, so you've got quite a while to go. Five years is 1 and 2/3rds computer generations. A lot can happen by then. In fact, the IRS computers could crash causing the loss of all the information that YOU, specifically, need. It happened to Lerner and her Cincinnati buddies, so it could happen to you.

[weha]

That "spot" won't appear till April, 2019, so you've got quite a while to go. Five years is 1 and 2/3rds computer generations. A lot can happen by then. In fact, the IRS computers could crash causing the loss of all the information that YOU, specifically, need. It happened to Lerner and her Cincinnati buddies, so it could happen to you.

Ha..ha.. would be hunky dory, but can't bank on it
Actually this is very important to me. I don't want to stand/sit for hours in a cramped local (ZA) Revenue Services office, when efiling from home is so much easier. Now Adobe is causing me sleepless nights. Can Canonical not package it for (K)Ubuntu, and is there a chance of that happening at all ?
Looks like I may have to install WINE, which I am really not keen to do.
Hells Bells, I may even need to purchase Windows just to do efiling and have all my tax stuff in one place.

[GreyGeek]

Don't give up hope. Like I said, a LOT can happen in five year.