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Domain: opendesign.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to opendesign.com.

Comments · 7

  1. Re:The sooner viable alternatives are provided.... by flydpnkrtn · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Jeremy Allison On Microsoft, OOXML and Standards

    Have you take a look at these products?

    http://www.varicad.com/VariCAD - supports DWG files via the http://opendesign.com/"Open Design Alliance"

    http://fastcad.com/ fastcad - Created by none other than the original developer of AutoCAD, Mike Riddle. Apparently version 8 will run on Linux

    note: I have only researched these products because I want to start a Linux solutions company. I have not used them myself (yet). Also IANAE (I am not an engineer)

  2. AutoCAD are soulless by jbengt · · Score: 1 · on eBay Seller Sues Autodesk for $10 Million

    Fuck AutoCAD Buy IntelliCAD
    .dwg file specifications: http://opendesign.com/
    AutoCAD compatible software consortium: http://www.intellicad.org/
    AutoCAD compatible CAD for MS Windows and Linux: http://www.bricsys.com/download/downloadForm.jsp?product=BCAD

  3. Re:More like "gotcha last" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Autodesk Suing to Keep Format Closed

    Autodesk was about to get sued because it using a software library without the needed license for over two years. Instead of getting a license, they sued the makers of the software library:

    http://www.opendesign.com/dgnstatement.asp

    I think this would be a good time to drop the DWG format altogether, it wasn't very good anyway.

  4. More like "gotcha last" by RobertB-DC · · Score: 4, Informative · on Autodesk Suing to Keep Format Closed
    Looking at the Open Design folks site brings up this tidbit:
    The Open Design Alliance understands that Autodesk has, for approximately two years, been distributing application programs which include our copyrighted DGNdirect libraries, for reading and writing DGN V8 format files. Autodesk does not have, nor has it ever had, any license or right to use DGNdirect in its application programs. We believe that Autodesk, by its actions, is infringing our copyright.

    All Autodesk had to do was join the Open Design Alliance, and they could use the ODA libraries without restriction. Instead, they filed suit.

    Don't forget to read The Autodesk File for more insights into how the once-revered company became just another soulless money hole.
  5. *ONLY* open document standards? AWESOME! by mrchaotica · · Score: 5, Interesting · on Belgian Gov't requires ODF From 09/2008

    You know what that means, right? It means that not accepting MS Office files is just the tip of the iceberg. It means every other format the government uses will have to be open too, including audio/video codecs, and -- best yet -- CAD FORMATS!

    As a civil engineering student and Free Software advocate, this is really exciting, because right now AutoCAD has a near-monopoly on CAD for civil engineering applications, to the point where governments often require its native format (.DWG, .DXF) for contract proposals and such. Don't get me wrong -- AutoCAD isn't a bad program, but it's a Windows-only one, which makes me constantly frustrated at work. Mandating use of an open standard format might give a boost to competing, cross platform, software.

    Incidentally, I ran across this website that has a lot of good information about this: the Open Design Alliance. From their FAQ:

    Why is the Open Design Alliance necessary?

    Despite the common availability of neutral file formats, such as IGES and STEP, the vast majority CAD drawings are stored in proprietary formats. The best-known of these is Autodesk's DWG file format. DWG has, for many years, been far and away the world's most popular format for the storage and exchange of 2D and 3D CAD drawings, with billions of important drawings in this format around the world. With an estimated 5 million seats of AutoCAD sold throughout the world, AutoCAD is in a monopoly position within its market segment, where no competing product could be successful without the ability to read and write DWG files.

    Beyond this, DWG files have been used to store the designs of publicly funded roads and bridges, and US and other government contracts often explicitly require that drawing data be stored in DWG format. Autodesk has declined to publish the format or to make libraries available to read and write DWG files to those companies it considers competitors. The Open Design Alliance was originally founded as the OpenDWG Alliance in 1998 to provide an open specification for OpenDWG (it's version of the DWG format), and to provide program libraries -- to anyone who wanted them -- for reading and writing OpenDWG files.

  6. Autodesk open Source by publicStatic · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Autodesk Embracing Open Source

    Notice anyone missing?

  7. File Formats Rule by 4of12 · · Score: 1 · on U.S. Army Research Lab Opens BRL-CAD Source

    I've recently had cause to investigate design tools to a degree that I had not previously.

    My preference is open source. So imagine my dismay at finding that not just that the business world is held hostage to .doc, .xls, .ppt but that the design world is held hostage to .dwg .

    I saw some hope in the Open Design Alliance, Open Cascade and some of the free CAD tools, but the range of secret but widely-used import and export formats that the commercial tools offer seem to make them an essential purchase for doing CAD work or development. That, in turn, is a barrier to entry to the development of free tools. Eg, the IGES standard, which is hard to find documented publicly, for free, seems to have more warts than a six ton toad because of decades of committee-added features.

    The temptation to establish and own a standard is too high to resist given the return on investment that can be obtained.

    I'm happy to see standard formats and commonly-used tools make their way to the free world so that vendors concentrate on true value-added products and services instead of milking windfalls of our IP-mad society.