Did you give Gimp a try? After initial struggles to adapt I don’t miss anything.

If you are not a heavy user, then https://photopea.com is a great free alternative

I think the goal isn’t actually selling you Photoshop, they care but not much.

The goal is stopping a photographer or other professional in the middle of their very busy workflow, when they absolutely can’t be interrupted, to make sure they get so annoyed they just pay to make it never happen again.

Idk, I’m stuck with a portable version of CS6 which miraculously works on Linux. That said, I still don’t use it, I have no need for it

What version do you use ? I left out after CS6 and the subscription move. Is the latest version easily cracked?