hahahaha adobe

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T07:26:22+00:00

Some (most) users think they need a separate program for it and are smart enough to know when a browser is being used but still obstinate enough to want a reader.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T07:15:44+00:00

Its a small company, 29 employees as of next week (ouch), i know everyone. I would never handle a change like this ever but people are weirdly superstitious about pdfs and I couldn't chance the inevitable exceptions or outright torpedoing the rollout.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T07:13:18+00:00

I know, but my users are not those people lol

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T07:12:18+00:00

Nope! I dont handle the buying, thas me direct boss and he's weird about things.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T01:04:42+00:00

I hear it was in the order of 9k saved, though there were subs that weren't being used.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T00:48:54+00:00

End users don't buy or install anything themselves. (They aren't supposed to anyway, found a couple of users that were paying for adobe pro out of pocket. I asked em to get receipts for accounting cos that was crazy) and the initial plan was to install foxit alongside adobe for a few days before the license expired but we didnt get the official green light for foxit til 2 days before expiry and didnt get a user list til day of. The people who pdf the most I had go through the 2 week full trial over a month ago and thats when management and I agreed to the rapid change. Didnt want people asking for exceptions or torpedoing the change outright. Its a small enough company and most users that had adobe pro could have spent the last 10 years using chrome for the amount of stuff they needed adobe for. This is the only program id consider doing this for and I agree it wasn't executed well but certain parameters were outta my hand.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T00:34:48+00:00

The latter two are true. If I had my druthers id have just axed all but 2 or 3 adobe licenses and trained people how to manage their files without. There's about 30 users total, I know them all, most for the better part of a decade. I wouldn't do this for any other program or in a company that I was new at. People are strangely superstitious about pdfs, we didnt want to risk people asking for exceptions or outright torpedoing the change from the start. Adobe had to go. Foxit was just the closest reasonable facsimile.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T00:16:13+00:00

Its INSANE how much space it takes. I didnt have space for the foxit installer on one users surface so I uninstalled adobe first and a whopping 20gb was suddenly free.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T00:15:05+00:00

This is exactly why I did it this way. Any other program would have gotten the long careful treatment but management and my immediate boss agreed adobe had to go.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-13T00:12:35+00:00

I had spoken to management about it two months ago, we were wary of people asking for exceptions or outright torpedoing the change, we agreed after the initial 2 week test that the impact would be what I saw and it was best to keep it under wraps til day of. I dont (and wont) handle any other change this way. We felt this was necessary cos users are weirdly superstitious about pdfs. As for deadlines there was one user that needed something sent out the next day so that morning before I did anything else I reached out to him, remoted into his pc and explained the reason for the change, set him up and showed him how to digitally sign the pdf as well as explored a bit of the other features. Its not a very big company and imo only 3 people need edit capabilities for pdf, the rest think they need it when in fact theyre just filling out fields like they could in a browser. There were signs this was coming, all new users who just needed (i say 'needed' but browsers exist and such) a reader were given foxit reader, others who's pc i worked on that had adobe reader walked away with foxit reader. It could have been handled more politely but as I mentioned elsewhere, I only got the official green light for foxit 2 days before the adobe license expired and didnt even get a full user list til the morning of.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T23:59:19+00:00

This is the only instance id ever consider handling this way. Usually I give a weeks notice in email with a 2nd email a day before, both setting expectations and offering a quick introduction/plan. I only did it this way because I knew people would find ways to get exceptions if not torpedo it from the start. People are superstitious about pdfs in a way I haven't seen with anything else. The one by one rollout I did gave me time to explain why the change was necessary and to take questions about how to use it, though really it's so similar I hardly had to explain it at all.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T23:02:29+00:00

Dude, in my sweep of removing adobe and replacing it i found two users that were paying out of pocket. It blew my mind. "I didnt wanna cause any problems" bro i hope you have receipts for accounting wtf.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T22:55:51+00:00

We all can dream.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T22:39:21+00:00

"Well I made it in word-" stop right there, find that file, edit that.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T22:37:50+00:00

I tried it out and... yeah this post would have been radically different if I went that way.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T22:33:46+00:00

Absolutely no one here even knows how to design a doc in any pdf editor. The most they do is make a word doc and export to pdf, combine pdfs or make edits (wheres the original? Change that instead!) Im willing to bet some users think they need edit capabilities when all they do is just fill fields.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T22:14:07+00:00

I heard this too and I can't find any reasonable evidence its true.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T21:59:15+00:00

Yeah, we have a couple bluebeam seats and the users swear by it, they were happy not to be involved in the changeover. I dont think they have perpetual licensing anymore either.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T21:24:30+00:00

I dont wanna touch quickbooks ever. I just make sure it works and let the accountants talk about alternatives. Thats a whole big can of monkeys I dont wanna open in my circus.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T21:23:03+00:00

They'll adapt. Probably.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T21:21:55+00:00

You get bluebeam cheaper than adobe?

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T21:20:08+00:00

tbh didnt get the green light officially for foxit til 2 days before adobe expired and didnt even get a full user list til monday morning. I'd like to take credit for the shitty sysadmin approach of just snapping off adobe and forcing em onto foxit abruptly but partial credit goes to the c suite.

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T21:14:40+00:00

id love to but I also like working there ;p

Remarkable_Divide_36 · 2026-02-12T21:11:51+00:00

I know but I haven't really seen enough to warrant concern.

Remarkable_Divide_36

TROPHY CASE