In 2016 the problem with LRTimelapse on Linux was apparently that Lightroom does not work on Linux (https://forum.lrtimelapse.com/Thread-lrt...e-on-linux). With the latest LRT 6 and the internal rendering and builtin editing, in my opinion this is the moment for a Linux version. Since it is written in Java it shouldn't be a hard thing to do, but I can't tell for sure.

I'd really like to see a Linux version in the future because with the stream deck and proton and thus many games coming to Linux, the only reason to keep Windows is LRTimelapse. I can now already cancel my Lightroom Subscription which is a great. Deleting Windows would be even greater.

As I explained in my tutorial about the internal workflow: https://youtu.be/7pMbXkq47BI LRTimelapse 6 is using the Adobe Development engine when doing the internal workflow. What LRTimelapse does is basically XMP manipulations - the result is the same if you do the certain edits in LRTimelapse or Lightroom. LRTimelapse needs the Adobe DNG Converter to calculate the visual output and the Adobe DNG Converter doesn't work on Linux.
Apart from that, LRTimelapse itself would run on Linux.
And again: I think everyone that uses LRTimelapse should own a Lightroom license even if it's not technically necessary - after all we are using the Adobe Technology here in any scenario.

Ah sorry, I only watched the Video about the new features.

For professional photographers I think it is okay to have to buy Lightroom since most of them are using it anyways but I only do timelapses as a hobby and don't want to pay 130€ per year for a program which I rarely use since I do ~10 timelapses per year (mostly in summer).

At least with the new internal workflow this is possible (on windows/mac os) now. It would be nice to use another engine (there must be a suitable open source engine) for Linux but I can understand that this is out of your target audience.

This post was last modified: 2022-03-07, 02:25 by Gunther.

The thing is that there is no other engine that provides the necessary interfaces and professionality that Adobe Camera Raw does. And of course, I need to see how much effort I can put into such a solution and how many people would take profit of it.
PS: Check the amazon offers for the Adobe Photogaphy subscription. Many times a years there are huge discounts so that you don't need to pay more than like 80 bucks a year for LR Classic and Photoshop which is an absolute bargain.

I'm another ex adobe user. there are a lot of reasons beside just cost - loosing access to your work when the subscription ends, the digital abyss basically, letting your subscription expire for too long and trying to resub only to find old project files won't open (PP, AE, although AE is generally pretty good ). If one could have a perm lic that might be ok, but since that option doesn't exist then the internal workflow needs to be fixed. At least on Mac there is Apple RAW converter. no idea about the other OS's but they also must have something. There is also the app called cameraX that provides its own RAW decoding on Mac. maybe you can connect with that dev and figure something out so you don't have to do all the work, but use an existing RAW converter.

Update: See this thread where a user explains how he got LRTimelapse and the Adobe DNG Converter to run on Linux. He has even made a Video: https://forum.lrtimelapse.com/Thread-lrt...g-on-linux

Hi, another ex-Adobe user here, and a Linux user too. In my eyes, Adobe's subscription policy has made them really unappealing for hobby photographers by now - especially since they only offer annual subscriptions anymore, while some competitors (with one-time payments) can nearly hold their own against Lightroom, and in terms of user-friendliness have even far surpassed Adobe.

At the same time, I find it a real shame that LRTimelapse doesn't run natively on Linux. Sure, you can get it working with Wine, but let's be honest - not everyone who uses Linux does so because they're an IT "nerd" who's up for that kind of tinkering. The tutorial with the video is a great help, but it shows exactly that: it takes a lot of tinkering before LRTimelapse runs on Linux. And it's often just a matter of time before guides like that stop working - for example, because Adobe has added new dependencies. Then someone first has to sit down again and go to the trouble of figuring out how to get LRTimelapse running again, and then write it up in a post on top of that. It may take quite a while until that happens. And in the meantime, Linux users are left high and dry again.

Long story short: maybe it would be an option to build in support for an open-source application with Linux support alongside the Lightroom support - Darktable, for example, if that's feasible. Sure, Darktable may not be quite as powerful as Lightroom, or as Adobe's DNG converter. But as long as it's just an alternative, anyone who still wants to squeeze that last little bit out of their projects can keep using the old workflow with Lightroom, while Linux users would finally have a natively running LRTimelapse too. I could easily imagine something like that as a feature for LRTimelapse 8. For me, at least, it would be a very strong selling point ;D

PS: Linux's user numbers have been rising significantly in recent years - according to most estimates, its market share has by now even surpassed 5%. And as things stand, the trend seems set to continue over the coming years. Maybe that's another "incentive" for native Linux support.

This post was last modified: 2026-06-20, 18:06 by Gunther.

I already explained it multiple times but I can explain it once again. LRTimelapse fully relies on Adobe's Develop Engine. Even in the internal workflow, where it uses the still free DNG Converter. We should all thank Adobe for providing such a powerful tool!

LRTimelapse itself is multi platform, it would run on Linux fine, even natively. It's Adobe you should be asking to port their tools to Linux, then everything could also run natively on Linux. I'm the wrong guy to ask it.

If howeer you ask me, if I am going to port LRTimelapse to be using another Raw Converter then the answer is no. I don't have the capacities to do so. And I don't want to either. Adobe's Raw Converter is powerful and offers the required interfaces (which others, especially the open source tools, don't). Also you can complain about the price, but again, since you are asking me, the Lightroom subscription is still a bargain. You can grab your annual license for as little as 80 bucks on multiple occasions during the year, like Prime Days. And that's cheap for what Lightroom Classic offers.

Or - you just use LRTimelapse stand alone with the free Adobe DNG Converter, which also would allow you keyframing of the basic development tools, deflicker, holy grail, video export and render etc. etc.

So let's stop complaining and let's start doing some beautiful timelapses. If you want "Linux" feeling, but way more compatibility and performance and less tinkering, go for a recent Mac with M* processor.

First of all, sorry for mixing things up here. I was aware that LRTimelapse runs natively on Linux - I just phrased it poorly. But thanks anyway for the renewed explanation.

And I didn't mean to "complain" here either. You've built a wonderful tool that makes my work immensely easier, and I truly appreciate that - whether with Adobe software or without. It was simply an attempt to argue the case that the Linux community deserves a solution that actually runs without workarounds, so we no longer have to rely on dual-booting or other hacks.

I consider asking Adobe about this a waste of time; a company that large rarely concerns itself with the wellbeing of a niche group and primarily focuses on maximizing profit. So I had a bit more hope that you, perhaps, might be won over by a solution that also works for Linux users.

Of course, if you now tell me that the effort for such a rebuild would be immense, or that the current open-source solutions simply aren't capable of pulling off a project like that, then that's truly a shame. But of course also understandable.

And as for Lightroom: about a year ago, Adobe informed me that I'd suddenly have to pay almost €200 per year for my subscription, instead of the roughly €100-something before. It's been a while, so I don't remember the details anymore. But that was exactly the point at which I cancelled with Adobe (especially since prices on Amazon had also risen dramatically at that time, with no discount deals in sight) and started looking for an alternative.

And I found one that cost me a one-time €80. Sure, Lightroom isn't the market leader for nothing. For example, my new tool doesn't quite match its AI denoising. But honestly, it's worth it to me, because the UI and UX are simply much better.
And if I now have to choose between software that costs me €80 a year (or rather even more) and software that I already own and that is functionally almost just as good - then I think the decision is clear.

Oh, and thanks for the tip about Mac. Personally, though, I'm very happy with Linux and have no plans to switch, especially because so much has changed regarding compatibility in recent years. For me, there are only exactly two programs left that don't run out of the box on Linux: LRTimelapse and my Lightroom replacement.

Even if it probably hasn't changed your stance, thank you nonetheless for your time. And maybe someday the day will come when we can launch LRTimelapse out of the box on Linux - by whatever means. I'd love that. :)

Yeah, I'd love that too ;.-)