I’ve always been fascinated by computers and how people interact with them. I’ve never been a fan of any particular technology and have always stayed open to trying new things, especially when it comes to operating systems.
When I decided to dive into Linux, I knew it was going to be a real challenge as a multimedia designer. The usual tools for any designer revolve around the Adobe Creative Cloud platform. In my case, the ones I use the most are Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects.
I use macOS on my corporate MacBook and Windows 11 on my personal PC. When the pandemic started, I adopted a completely device-agnostic approach at home. I switched between macOS and Windows 11 seamlessly, thanks to online Git repositories (GitHub and GitLab) and my 2TB Dropbox account, which kept everything perfectly synced.
Choosing the Right Distro
My adventure with Linux for workstations began with Ubuntu installed on an Oracle VM VirtualBox machine. It gave me a taste of what a Linux environment could look like. Years later I started using the terminal to manage my server on the cloud. After running into some issues with Ubuntu, I switched to Debian. That’s when I asked myself: why not try Debian for daily workstation use too? And that’s how it all started.
Debian felt leaner and purer. It wasn’t as easy to configure as Ubuntu, but it was far more customizable, with less bloatware and telemetry. It was love at first sight.
When people say they use “Linux,” they usually mean they installed a distribution that uses the Linux kernel at its core. Ubuntu and Linux Mint are among the most popular choices, especially for casual users. They’re both based on Debian.
What About Design Software?
While Windows and macOS users have access to almost every app imaginable, Linux users sometimes have to get creative.
The primary design tool I use nowadays is Figma, which fortunately works perfectly in the browser and can be installed as a Progressive Web App in Chrome. For vector graphics, Inkscape does a great job once you get used to its workflow.
For photo editing, I installed GIMP. The new 3.0 version, recently released, adds many features users have been craving: non-destructive editing, better support for opening Adobe Photoshop (.PSD) files, and several performance improvements.
The motion graphics arena is a real challenge. Without After Effects, I’m considering using Blender along with some 2D animation techniques. Blender is a very powerful 3D tool, but it requires a different mindset compared to After Effects.
I also do some audio editing for Blur FM. Vegas and Sound Forge can be easily replaced by Audacity, a surprisingly powerful audio editor. For video editing, Kdenlive covers all the needs of a basic workflow. DaVinci Resolve is a more professional option. Its free version runs well on Linux, though it comes with the trade-off of limited file format support.
Another important note: Dropbox turned out to be a key player. Neither OneDrive nor Google Drive offer official Linux clients, but Dropbox does. This made it possible for me to sync files across Linux, macOS, and Windows without any hassle. This was a huge win for maintaining my device-agnostic workflow even after switching to Linux.
Hardware Adventures
One of my first moves was installing Debian GNU/Linux on an external SSD drive. I thought it would be a safe way to dual-boot with Windows 11 without risking Windows overwriting the GRUB manager. It worked perfectly.
Another unexpected part of the journey was hardware compatibility. The majority of the devices worked flawlessly out of the box. The only issue was configuring things like Bluetooth audio. My specific USB dongle didn’t work properly, the solution was to swap the dongle between my server and my desktop computer.
A different chapter is the NVIDIA graphics card. Even though Debian comes with preinstalled video drivers, if you want to squeeze the power of an NVIDIA card, you will need to install the proprietary drivers, and that can be a little bit tricky, but not impossible. Video editing, 3D rendering and gaming will make better use of the NVIDIA drivers.
Final Thoughts
Switching to Linux as a designer isn’t easy, but it’s definitely possible. It forces you to rethink your workflow, be more flexible, and truly own your computer. This means that you don’t get an undesired news feed cluttering your desktop or intrusive software recommendations.
Nowadays I still design, code and create. But now I do it with different tools on Debian GNU/Linux. I remember something a professor once said in class: what matters most isn’t the tools we use, but what we create with them.
Useful links
- Debian GNU/Linux – The universal operating system.
- Linux Mint – A user-friendly Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, great for beginners.
- Figma – Browser-based UI and UX design tool.
- Inkscape – Free and open-source vector graphics editor.
- GIMP – GNU Image Manipulation Program, the open alternative to Photoshop.
- Blender – Powerful 3D creation suite with 2D animation capabilities.
- Audacity – Free, open-source audio editor.
- Kdenlive – Non-linear video editor for Linux.
- DaVinci Resolve – Professional video editing suite, with a free Linux-compatible version.