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Bringing CAD to Linux
Christopher Cashell writes "I've often heard it said that linux has the potential to be an ideal CAD platform, and the only thing holding it back is the lack of commercial quality CAD software (a la AutoCAD). Enter QCad, an easy to use 2D CAD project that began as a splitoff from CAM Expert. It was initially released with a 'free for non-commercial use' license, but this has recently been changed to the GPL. It's an excellent program, and earned 5 out of 5 Penguins on Tucow's Linuxberg review." CAD could/should be a "killer app" for Linux on the engineering desktop. I had a conversation a few months ago with an editor at Machine Design magazine about Linux - and how a good CAD app might set off a wholesale migration to Linux by design engineers.
Today, we're all using 'Pro Engineering' and it's fantastic. There are many many engineers, myself included, that would use ProE 5 days a week, and would love to see it runing on a Linux distro.
With the cost savings of bypassing micros~1, we could spend more money on the hardware.
The academic version is available for Linux, although it is unsupported.
h tm
Check out the following:
http://www.bentley.com/academic/products/linux.
Paul
I saw this on some mailing list. You know what to do ;)
- --
-----------------------------------------------
To: "Zot O'Connor"
Subject: RE: Microstation/J for Linux?
From: Tim Brown - Bentley
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 08:23:06 -0400
Zot, we do have a Linux version of MicroStation that is included in our
Academic Kits. It is not available commercially due to the limited requests
we have had for that OS. We support Wintel(95/NT/DOS), Dec AlphaNT, SGI,
SUN, IBM(AIX), HP(HPUX), POWERMAC, OS/2Warp & Intergraph Clippers. Feel
free to call me with any other questions.
Regards,
Tim
Tim Brown
Bentley Systems, Inc.
690 Pennsylvania Drive
Exton, PA 19341
610-458-2743
Tim.Brown@Bentley.com
The uses for professional level CAD extend to all forms of engineering, and into all kinds of related fields. I use AutoCAD nearly full time for an Architecture firm (w/Linux servers). This kind of demand is primarily what makes Autodesk, maker of AutoCAD, the fourth largest software maker in the world (last time I checked), and combined with AutoCAD's $3k price tag, make it the most pirated piece of software (though you'd think Windows would actually be higher...) .dwg file format compatability would be needed, but that's probabaly the most un-open file format there is.
While I'm excited at the prospect of a GPL CAD program, and I'll definitely be checking it out, I have doubts as to how well it would fit into a production environment. The lack of 3d capability limits its use as a design tool, as well. And with an entrenched market leader like AutoCAD, every company that uses it has an enormous investment in existing data; they can't just toss it. So
What I'm really interested in is the existing professional UNIX CAD programs, particularly MicroStation and Arris (for which the purchaser even gets the source code), and their plans re. Linux. Many people are unhappy with the lack of stability using AutoCAD (which is sometimes the fault of AutoCAD and sometimes Windows), and that combined with Autodesk's spotty user response rate leaves this market vulnerable.
Anyway, kudos to QCAD for putting that first foot forward.
The biggest barier to Linux CAD solutions being deployed in existing shops is not the lack of acceptable CAD programs (there are a few) but rather the lack of compatibility. File compatibility is achieved through native DXF and DWG tralation, but must AutoCAD shops have thousands of custom AutoLISP programs to automate various tasks. I've never seen a Linux CAD prog. that even had a scripting feature much less any degree of compatibility to AutoLISP. My current shop certainly wouldn't switch. Sure it costs us $2,000+ per seat of AutoCAD, but our LISP routines make customizing, editing, marking-up, plotting, etc. a snap and save us hundreds of man hours -PER PERSON- a year. Until a linux CAD prog can do that, it won't be replacing AutoCAD.
Note: Microstation -is- available for Linux, but only as the Student Version (not available to biz.) I know. I talked to them personally.
Here is a list of the Linux CAD progs/projects that I've come across:
http://www.qcad.org/index.php3
http://www.cycas.de/
http://www.microform.se/index.htm#VAR
http://ftp.arl.mil/brlcad//
http://www.fpa-engineers.com/OD/
http://pw2.netcom.com/~iamcliff/FREEdraft.html
http://www.octree.de/
peace favor your sword
What's wrong with removable toolbars? :)
-Brent--
Perhaps a script translation utility capable of converting autoLisp scripts to MBS, coupled with Varkon itself, would address the original poster's concerns and allow his shop to migrate.
Interoperability with existing, installed software is important, if only to preserve and maintain existing work and data. This is one of the reasons I was so dismayed when Sun bought StarOffice (which has excellent interoperability with M$ Office), even though I personally prefer Word Perfect. The ability to read and write M$ native formats made migration away from Windows for our office staff much, much easier.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
Since QCad is GPL'd wouldn't it be possible to add a Guile scripting facility to it?
And since Guile is a Scheme-based scripting language and Scheme is a Lisp dialect couldn't it be possible to write a Guile module to provide the AutoLISP compatibility.
Even if this is not a 100% compatibility this probably would help a lot to port scripts to QCad.
Is there some reason this can't be done?
Is it being done at the time?
"The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
If they want one responsible party, they should pick a distribution vendor and sign up with them. Sure, a lot of people on Slashdot get pissed when a package is (often more or less just labeled as) specific to say, Red Hat, but it is better than not having the software available at all.
Seems like all 'new' Linux software ears a 5/5 rating or 4 stars or product of the year award or some other rating that it doesn't necessarily deserve? If this software was released for windows and compared to other windows-based CAD software, there is no way it would earn a 5/5.
I know we all get excited when something like this is released, but it really should be compared to the competition -- whether or not it is windows software.
get nemulator
Some of you may be familiar with VectorWorks, once called MiniCAD, which has a pretty good share of the Mac CAD market (and doesn't cost an arm and a leg like AutoCAD, just a few fingers.) We also have a Windows version, so we're willing to be cross-platform. If you're a potential customer for a commercial, professional-level (as opposed to consumer market) CAD program for Linux, send e-mail to rich@diehlgraphsoft.com, encouraging him to consider a Linux version.
If you hate all proprietary software, send hate mail to me instead.
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
(Slightly OT; I think I've mentioned this before.)
At this year's Design Automation Conference in New Orleans, there were penguins everywhere. Most of the exhibitors seemed oblivious to the Linux connection, but I asked as many as possible about Linux versions.
The near-universal response was that they would have a Linux version of their software as soon as they got an order large enough to make it worthwhile. Says I, "I know that porting to Linux is easy." Replied they: "No, you don't understand. Our developers insist on doing Linux first, then porting to other systems. We just need an order."
Apparently Model Technology (BIG simulation company) got the order; they announced that starting in December they'll be shipping Linux versions along with all of their other platforms.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
> I don't know how or why, but for some reason Qt programs always seem to resemble windows for me...
Same shade of grey, same height of buttons, and if you're running with the windows theme, then it takes pains to look the same. Window manager with its flush relief-detailed window controls looks more like OS/2 to me. KDE 2.0 has a (pretty horrendous) looking button set that looks a lot more like MacOS 8.x buttons than windows.
Anyhow, this has gotten way off topic. AFAIK, I don't think CAD programs are designed for any widget set in general.
I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.