ADOBE MEDIATION RESULT

[dsnaps12]

Adobe agreeing to meet to discuss features wanted..ha. They are not going to just copy a feature from Freehand and put it in AI. I was part of the AI CS3-CS5 beta's. There were a lot of freehand users in there including myself trying to get freehand features in. Adobe posted that they just don't want to copy a feature they want to improve upon it. Personally I think trying to change some of AI features might actually break the program in to many other areas because of how bloated it is. Plus Freehand users weren't the only folks demanding features. There were Indesign users, coreldraw users etc etc suggesting feature request.

Back to the settlement Adobes offer is very weak. If it was AI6 for $99 maybe some folks would think about it. It would have been nice if they offered to make a bug fixed version of the last version of FH to run on the lastest OS's and then put FH back in their basement.

[tvc152k]

It is a sad day for all of us!

[tvc152k]

And in retrospect... Apologies to Thu and the team. My anger was really at the predicament we are all in together.

It was just a stupid outburst Spin Doctor is right. I could have never pulled any of this off

[Bernie]

I like many other FreeHand users are bitterly dissapointed but I do appreciate the efforts of the FreeFreehand org, you are to be commended for trying for so long. I won't be signing the discount letter just sent to me. I have no desire to purchase anything from Adobe, the way they treat their customers will surely one day back fire on them, the sooner the better.

Has anyone considered Corel Draw, it appears to be the only other alternative. Maybe they could be approached to make Corel Draw available on a Mac & make it FreeHand like if that's possible. I don't like Corel Draw either but maybe if we give them a FreeHand features wish list, it may turn it into a useful alternative to Adobe.

[trevor]

It is sad to hear that David could not battle against Goliath. Goliath lawyers have told David that the land he is standing on is owned by Goliath, so you are not permitted to pick up a stone and throw it.

If Adobe believes that we are not the owners of the land then so be it.

I look forward to the opportunity to be involved in a total rewrite of new software that has the true ability to port freehand files and go forward as a powerful very user friendly intuitive CAD program.

I at that point if you intend to go that way will happily donate some money towards a new writing of software.

[bkieffer]

I will not be signing the eSign agreement. Why would I when I have no intention of purchasing any of the discounted software.

[Rodi]

They (ADOBE) pour a lot into their legal department.

They would sell the program for the right price.

They did this to FontChameleon too. They used the compression of fonts in their RIPS (Type 42 fonts.)

Freehand is too good for them. It is also better than Illustrator at so many things, but it also overlaps into InDesign (a lot of features I would like to go into Illustrator from Freehand would do that.)

You guys did a great job. Outside of buying it from them, there is little we can do.

[art101]

Amazing. What a hideous outcome.

I trusted Free FreeHand. Stupid me. I thought maybe Free FreeHand could save FreeHand from Adobe's evil corporate money-grubbing clutches. Apparently not.

"Adobe has agreed to provide eligible Free FreeHand members one non-transferable discount off the current list price of an electronic download of one of the following Adobe products purchased directly from Adobe at an Adobe direct online stores located in countries in which Adobe has such a store ("Discount"): (1) $199 off the full version of the Adobe Illustrator CS6 product; or (2) $199 off the full version of the Adobe Design & Web Premium CS6 product; or (3) $399 off the full version of the Adobe Master Collection CS6 product (the "Authorized Products"). The Discounts are expressed in U.S. Dollars. For Authorized Products purchased at Adobe direct online stores located in countries outside of the United States, Discounts will be a comparable percentage off the retail price set in the applicable local currency of such countries in which Adobe has an Adobe direct online store. More details about the Discount are set forth below."

F*CK ADOBE. F*CK FREE FREEHAND.

I don't want a broken version of FreeHand. I certainly don't want to buy Adobe's crappy, bloated, f*cked up Illustrator ... pretending to be FreeHand. I want FreeHand. I bought it, I played by the rules, I gave Adobe my money ... and Adobe raped me.

I will never give Adobe another penny of my money. Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.

[_SiD_]

That's that then. 
FFH are obviously under obligation to offer this settlement to it's members in an impartial manner. I can appreciate this. I'll decline Adobe's offer, thanks anyway but i'll take my patronage elsewhere. Thanks to the FFH team for taking it this far. 
All the speculation about 'releasing the code' 'forcing adobe to redevelop FH' can at last be put to one side. The positive thing is it can now move on. That's a real positive!

Here's the state of play.

1. Freehand is gone. So nothing has really changed.

2. No one really wants to get sucked into Adobe's overpriced, bloated, poorly supported, poorly developed products. No real change there either.

3. People don't want Freehand per se. They want a sensible, intelligent, user friendly vector app that 'does what Freehand did', can open their legacy work, talk to other apps and has a future, reasonably priced, open sourced (? maybe), responsive development, etc. Again, no change.

4. Through this forum FFH has managed to band together over 6000 skilled, highly experienced vector artists, each one with more than 20 years working, talking, tweaking, discussing the finer points of vector apps. This is new. This is 6000+ beta testers. 6000+ potential investors. This is a chance to move this away from the tired Freehand v Illustrator debate.

Here are the options.

1. Keep talking to Adobe and try and improve AI.
Realistically it's not an option, for me anyway.

2. Kickstart a new App.
Let's say 6000 users pledged $100. This got you a new app, with the features you want. Open sourced. Responsive.
This could take a while, there may not be a useable App with the features we need for several years.

3. Get behind an existing App. 
Take our patronage and 'collectively' get behind the Vector App with the best chance of challenging AI. 
With a Kickstarter model - a lesser $20 pledge from 6000 users, take this 'collective investment' ($120,000) and drive through the changes and features the FH community need now. This size of investment may even buy a share in a small company, giving the FFH community a say in the direction of the App. With a company already in place, code in place and a platform to build on a viable alternative could be in place in a fraction of time.


S

[ThePixelDoc]