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I found an outdated solution for installing Adobe Reader here on askubuntu.

I followed the steps but after updating my sources using sudo apt-get update I am getting the following error:

Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful InRelease
Ign:2 http://archive.canonical.com precise InRelease
Get:4 http://archive.canonical.com precise Release [8,180 B]            

Get:5 http://archive.canonical.com precise Release.gpg [198 B]
Ign:5 http://archive.canonical.com precise Release.gpg   
Ign:3 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit:6 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable Release
Reading package lists... Done
W: GPG error: http://archive.canonical.com precise Release: The 
following signatures were invalid: 
630239CC130E1A7FD81A27B140976EAF437D05B5
E: The repository 'http://archive.canonical.com precise Release' is 
not signed.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is 
therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user 
configuration details.

What can I do to fix this and get Adobe Acrobat installed?

The question itself is actually not a duplicate since OP wants to install Adobe Acrobat and the old solution was outdated.

Arya Sadeghi
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2 Answers2

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As stated on the german wiki, Adobe Reader is not in partner sources anymore. Instead it is recommended to install Acrobat DC via playonlinux.

sudo apt install playonlinux
playonlinux

click on "install a program" and wait for the list to get refreshed. Search for Acrobat as soon as it is finished:

playonlinux with acrobat reader.

You will be guided through the installation. It will take some time but after that you can run Acrobat DC via wine.

Edit: Errata

With current Ubuntu 17.10 and wine 1.9.0 Acrobat DC installation seems to be hanging.

There is a solution from Martin Bruvelis, the maintainer of the install recipe on playonlinux using wine 2.2.1 and the newest download link. It is not yet accepted as a working solution but it will probably the next days.

Download the install-script manually under the section "new sourcecode" revision 2017-11-20 11-38 published on 20 November 2017. Save it in your Downloads directory i.e. under acrobat_new.sh. Then install from the menu using "run local script":

local script menu

execute local script

Acrobat DC will install successfully:

enter image description here

ukos
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There is only one reason to install Adobe Reader when evince is available for all currently supported versions of Ubuntu and if I'm not mistaken is included by default in most if not all releases of Ubuntu. If you don't can easily install it from the repositories with sudo apt install evince This unfortunate reason is Adobe's short sighted attempt to jam XFA down our throats. The XFA format has received a lot of criticism over the years and will probably fade away quietly.

The first version of PDF 2.0 or ISO 32000-2 was published in May of 2017 by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The next ISO/TC 171/SC 02/WG 08 "PDF specification" meeting will be held 23 Apr 2018 to 27 Apr 2018. ISO 32000-2 wass the biggest update to the PDF specification since it has become an ISO standard in 2008.

The good news is that XFA forms are excluded in the new standard along with multimedia and other redundant, outdated or otherwise unportable information. I would expect that as the new standard is adopted, the Adobe attempt to render open source pdf tools useless will ultimately fail, and new and updated FOSS programs which comply to the new standard will become freely available in the repositories. I for one think the PDF Association and the ISO Technical Committees deserve a resounding cheer for their work on this important standard.

Another serious blow to XFA format not being an ISO standard is that it is prohibited in all ISO-standardized PDF subsets that are used for archiving engineering and printing (PDF/A, PDF/UA, PDF/E, PDF/VT and PDF/X).

Sources:

http://blog.pdfshareforms.com/pdf-2-0-release-bid-farewell-xfa-forms/

Elder Geek
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  • Unfortunately the latest PDF's created in Adobe cannot be read by evince. I just had this with a formal document issued by my bank. Sucks. Evince has been my goto program for PDF's for years now. – Dr. Mike Feb 08 '18 at 10:50
  • It is essential for a pdf to work with Adobe Reader. Regardless of what the standard is. Adobe is that big. Same goes for the standard Apple pdf tool. We have a mac just for checking the correct output of latex generated pdf on a mac. – ukos Feb 11 '18 at 03:10
  • What is wrong with wanting to install Adobe Acrobat? – ukos Feb 11 '18 at 21:57
  • @ElderGeek I'll open a new question. :) Thanks for the suggestion. – Dr. Mike Feb 12 '18 at 20:13
  • @ElderGeek Unfortunately Adobe Reader is required to handle interactive pdfs. That's the reason why I'm using it on my virtualbox. – Mike Wojtyna Mar 22 '18 at 18:18
  • @MikeWojtyna Are you dealing with PDF files with Adobe proprietary extensions? I guess Adobe has thrown standards out the window along with backward compatibility. I agree, that is unfortunate. – Elder Geek Mar 22 '18 at 22:11
  • @ElderGeek Yes, we are forced to use that kind of PDFs to communicate with government institutions in Poland :(. One of the reasons why I still need to use Windows. – Mike Wojtyna Mar 22 '18 at 22:16
  • @ElderGeek: The most compelling reason to install Adobe Reader is to be able to fill in PDF forms, which evince still can't do. There are government forms requiring this, which is really unbelievable in this day and age, but it's the way it is. – LifeBoy Apr 09 '18 at 10:24
  • @LifeBoy With all due respect, there are numerous ways to fill in PDF forms that don't require Adobe Reader. Somehow I've managed to get along without it for several years. – Elder Geek Apr 09 '18 at 13:36
  • Yes, @ElderGeek, I stand corrected. Indeed, both Evince (FOSS) and Master PDF Editor 4 (non-FOSS) do fill in forms now, which is good news. The local Tax authority (SARS) however, use a PDF form that pulls the contents from it's source once it's opened in Adobe Reader. I have not found any other way to read these unfortunately.

    Of course, I am of the opinion that no government should ever be allowed to use such software, but they do, and scoff at those objecting.

     – LifeBoy Apr 09 '18 at 17:42
  • @LifeBoy I'm a firm believer that all things are possible given enough time and effort. If the aforementioned document is freely available, perhaps asking a new question that includes a link to said document would allow for the development of alternate solutions. In such a case it would be prudent to link to related Q&A's explaining that they didn't work (and hopefully why) to provide context. This could help deter those that might otherwise close it as a duplicate. – Elder Geek Apr 09 '18 at 17:54
  • Sorry, but you are wrong. There are a lot of reasons why to use AdobeReader instead of evince. For example, I need to fill some gov forms to my visa application. These forms don't render at all on evince, but work properly on Adobe. – Daniel Loureiro Jul 29 '18 at 17:57
  • @DanielLoureiro Of course if the form you are filling requires Adobe proprietary extensions your choices are much more limited. This clearly means that this is the wrong answer for you in the particular example you mention. This doesn't mean it's wrong for everyone. Many of us, myself included, get along quite fine with evince on a daily basis. Cheers! – Elder Geek Aug 02 '18 at 18:35