One field not considered in the discussions here is land measurement.
As a former land surveyor, I had to deal with deeds where measurements were expressed in rods or chains. Feet and inches are not a practical way of measuring land, so surveyors began to measure using decimals of a foot. A hundredth of a foot is close enough to 1/8 inch that it is easy to work with masons and carpenters on construction jobs. We always carried folding rules with both. Put your thumbnail on the measurement and flip it -- instant conversion.
A square mile = 640 acres. many old roads in New England are 2 rods wide = 33 feet.
Don't get me started on Public Lands, where they use sections and townships.
Show me a plot of land with its area in acres and I can tell you how many houses you can build on it and what your road and utilities costs will be (ballpark).
Don't expect to ever see Autocad for Linux, ain't gonna happen. Autodesk got involved in the *nix world a little too early on. Their (ugh) Xenix version was a failure, in spite of its promise, and the Sun versions fared little better. (Don't even let me get started on the Mac version.)
The sad thing about this is that Autocad shines in the A/E/C, civil, and mapping fields, all of the others mentioned are solid modellers/mechanical design and drafting packages. Acad even made a decent GIS or FM with add-ons.
I don't see much hope for a f/oss, generalized cadd solution on the horizon, either. Unlike OOo or Gimp, there is not enough of a potential user pool, and even less of a develloper pool to make it happenl
Slashdot Mirror
So Maine doesn't have to accept the fed's ID standards. Then the TSA doesn't have to accept Maine DLs at airports. Who will win?
As a former land surveyor, I had to deal with deeds where measurements were expressed in rods or chains. Feet and inches are not a practical way of measuring land, so surveyors began to measure using decimals of a foot. A hundredth of a foot is close enough to 1/8 inch that it is easy to work with masons and carpenters on construction jobs. We always carried folding rules with both. Put your thumbnail on the measurement and flip it -- instant conversion.
A square mile = 640 acres. many old roads in New England are 2 rods wide = 33 feet.
Don't get me started on Public Lands, where they use sections and townships.
Show me a plot of land with its area in acres and I can tell you how many houses you can build on it and what your road and utilities costs will be (ballpark).
Don't expect to ever see Autocad for Linux, ain't gonna happen. Autodesk got involved in the *nix world a little too early on. Their (ugh) Xenix version was a failure, in spite of its promise, and the Sun versions fared little better. (Don't even let me get started on the Mac version.)
The sad thing about this is that Autocad shines in the A/E/C, civil, and mapping fields, all of the others mentioned are solid modellers/mechanical design and drafting packages. Acad even made a decent GIS or FM with add-ons.
I don't see much hope for a f/oss, generalized cadd solution on the horizon, either. Unlike OOo or Gimp, there is not enough of a potential user pool, and even less of a develloper pool to make it happenl
May not be what you're looking for, but: http://www.gallerycarre.com/ does it for me. ;^)
From Dangerous Visions
- RiverWorld
books?