Does Adobe realise that by constantly "disabling" my pirated Photoshop, they're just ensuring I always have the latest and greatest version?

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

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

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

Unless I'm missing something, the only reason Adobe even could disable your pirated Photoshop is if you haven't blocked the application from accessing the internet in your firewall. C'mon, that's basic stuff. =)

What about GIMP?

you could use GIMP, or even PhotoGIMP if you're too used to photoshop's behaviour and keybindings

Still using the adobe suite version I pirated in 2014. Should probably look for a newer one, it's been almost 10 years

If you get tired of that, you can get Photoshop + Lightroom for about $2/month if you're "in" Turkey. That will also get you access to the generative AI features.