Adobe Acrobat Reader (AAR) is required to fill out the US govt form FBAR. I only use Linux so I had to figure a way to run AAR on my Tumbleweed system. Turns out the solution I hit on was Acrobat running in Wine running in a snap container running in a Ubuntu 24.04 VM running on VirtManager running on Tumbleweed running on Linux.
Crazy to think that whole stack can run just fine. A big tip of the hat to the thousands of FOSS devs that make it possible.
PS: For various reasons I don’t want Wine or snaps running on my Tumbleweed setup.
I agree with @malcolmlewis … overly complicated procedure, when there are simple solutions.
I occasionally need to submit official government forms and legal documents. My solution? I have an “Adobe Acrobat Fill and Sign PDF forms” online account.
The only software I require on my machine is a browser (I use Chrome). Then I go to the Adobe website, log in, fill out the forms, then paste my “signature image” onto the form’s signature box. If the organization allows it, I can “send” my document to them via Internet … or I can download the completed document(s), print it, then mail / hand-deliver /etc.
If I’m reading things correctly, the Acrobat flatpak version is from 2013. The snap version I have is 2021. I feel better using the newer version. And the snap version in my Ubuntu VM is working good and stable so far.
I was considering an online solution but from what I’ve heard most online services will take the data and sell it to data brokers. Even if they say they don’t, there often will be subtle, obscured legal loopholes in the TOS that allows them to.
I’m definitely not a security expert, but I feel safer keeping my financial details away from a company like Adobe or other online PDF service providers.
In any case, the “crazy stack” seems quite stable and is working good. And it’s in a VM so if it crashes, no big deal.
I’m totally new to Wine and have no idea what bottles are or what they do. I just followed the instructions provided by Gemini. Acrobat is working good and when I get some time I’ll research bottles.
It’s giving all the right answers with the prompt:
How can I run Adobe Acrobat Reader on openSUSE Tumbleweed?
… but is hopeless once it goes off on the wrong track.
Some might say introspection is the first step towards intelligence but the AI grifters seem to have (very conveniently) forgot that.
You’re not alone in your distrust of such online services.
An online service in a different category, however, is that provided by the fincen site itself. https://bsaefiling.fincen.gov/file/fbar lists two options: you can file a .pdf fbar, which requires Adobe reader, or gather the data beforehand to file the FBAR online. The data goes straight to the intended recipient, with no middleman.
(just teasing)