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Actually the AutoCAD for Windows install CDs should do just fine.

We thought this would be a stumbling block but it turned out to be the opposite - not only did we get AutoCad R14 running on Debian GNU/Linux within 24 hours but it actually ran faster! Can you believe that?

http://architectafrica.com/bin0/news200411111_wine.html

How about VMWare?

Maybe one of these might work for you? http://www.tech-edv.co.at/lunix/CADlinks.html

0. Wrong. Full Stop. See: Eclipse, Blender, and any other of thousands of high quality open source applications that are professional quality, developed by paid professionals, but given away for free so that there is a more vibrant software ecosystem.

1.... Alsa and ESD work just fine. Ubuntu screwed the pooch implementing Pulseaudio, but Alsa and ESD are working just fine on my gaming rig and my htpc to do any audio crap I want. Also, I do remastering work on a base ubuntu install and audacity. So, I call BS on this. It takes effort to get right, but show me a windoze box that does this correctly out of the box without fucking around. Sorry but BS.

2..... Its called an nVidia card and compiz-fusion. IMHO better than the Aero bs, lower resource usage than it, and it solves every one of the issues he's griping about. Show me a system these days that DOESN'T come new with a 3d chipset that can't handle compiz.

3..... This is a) not a bad thing and b) FAR bettter than windoze. I have a whole group of people that are nice enough to package up my software so it installs in two or three clicks or one cli command. Beyond that, if they haven't gotten to it, I can get it packaged from the vendor, or if its EVEN newer, I have a free complete dev system and can compile the damned thing myself using the same dependencies the devs are using to work on it. Grow a clue.

4..... No, no it shouldn't. I don't want joe user to be able to configure some things, because I have to ssh in and fix it for him when he goes playing.

5.... bullshit: http://architectafrica.com/bin0/news200411111_wine.html

6. I haven't run across this, so I guess i'll hafta take his word. This is why you use a distro who test well :)

7. And the windoze API is so clean and bug free? IE is such a stable application?

8. Then you're not doing it right. Sorry but this isn't a desktop issue so please drive through.

9. Yes, but how about run time behavior. Unix-alikes encourage an app to load EVERYTHING at startup of the app so we don't have to put up with bullshit delays when dynamically loading the wizard for doing task A. Its a difference in philosophy of putting all the wait up front, not "slowness". He obviously doesn't get it.

10. Maybe, so use a stable released version. I agree that for stable stuff this should be better (get cracking devs)

11. So write some documentation. Not every project has infinite resources so you get tradeoffs.

12. Bullshit. gksudo, etc. Learn what you're talking about. ps -A is all the protection against "keyloggers" that I need.

13. I'd rather have broken backwards compatibility than infinite security holes to keep a dead api from a single user system alive.

14. Just plain wrong.

AutoCad probably runs under WINE if you try on a spare machine. Otherwise, things have come quite far with virtualization. VMware is just one of many options which can host legacy operating systems like Windows inside a virtual machine.

You could move to Solaris and run AutoCAD for Solaris; otherwise This article about running the Windows version under Linux looks useful.

The CAD applications I'm familiar with are all related to electronic engineering... Cadence, Mentor, OrCAD, EAGLE, etc. Some of these have Solaris versions without a Linux option, some have both. I'm sure there are good generic CAD programs out there for Linux, but I haven't used any.

This link looks useful.

• Photoshop: The GIMP - how many times does this need to be said, the interface is slightly different but the gimp has most of the features of photoshop plus a few of its own.
  Why don't I do the rest of the main Adobe stuff while I'm at it:
  
  • Pagemaker: Scribus
  • Illustrator: Inkscape
  
  
• Games: Cedega - but maybe you'd be better off using a console (not as in bash you blockhead) as they're cheap and while piracy for them is a bit harder its doable if you're commited.
• Autocad: a quick search reveals two commercial solutions LinuxCAD and VariCAD and a guide to getting AutoDesk's Autocad running under wine
• Dreamweaver: NVU, Amaya, hell even fckEditor or, if you're hardcore then vi(e)macs.

AutoCAD used to be offered as a UNIX program. Like the "Photoshop for UNIX" that Adobe offered, it was distributed as a binary for Sun Solaris, I believe. A quick Google search didn't turn up any definitive information on whether or not it's still being offered (I'm thinking no) but there's one university that still has it available for students to use, and you can read the instructions for using it here. Based on the list of packages installed on their UNIX systems, I'm going to guess they're older SparcStations.

This doesn't do us modern Linux users much good, since it means the software was probably distributed as SPARC binaries only. So unless you know of a good way to emulate/virtualize a SPARC (which shouldn't be impossible, given that it's an allegedly open architecture) system from within x86 Linux, I'd say we're SOL there.

There are some people in South Africa who have AutoCAD running (apparently) to their satisfaction under Debian WINE, according to this page. They mention a "German GNU/Linux clone of AutoCAD which is quite impressive and very cheap" in the article, but sadly don't give a name.

LinuxCAD, which rather hilariously describes itself as "the Best application program for Linux. Period." claims to be an AutoCAD replacement, but just from first glance the site seems questionably maintained (as in, '1995 called, they want their web page back'). The company behind it has also been alleged to be behind some Usenet spam. On that last site there are several "alternatives to LinuxCAD" listed, including VariCAD, which seems like a pretty polished (it ought to be, for $500) product from a company in the Czech Republic.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw those options out there. If anyone has any experience with any of them I'd be interested to hear them.

Autodesk has been ripping engineering firms off since AutoCAD R14. Everything since then has been fluff, and the only reason small firms pay the multi-thousand dollar fees to upgrade is because all the other firms are doing the same thing. Much like MS Word, they change the file format with every release and spare nary a thought for backward compatability. Which means that if you save a drawing with simple lines in R2002, you can't open it in R14.

PS - you can run R14 on Linux, using WINE: http://www.architectafrica.com/bin0/news200411111_ wine.html