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6 of the Best Free Linux CAD Software
The Windows CAD world has long been dominated by the extremely powerful AutoCAD software. Unfortunately, Unix support was dropped way back in 1994, and its authors, Autodesk, have no current plans to bring it to Linux. Whilst it is possible to run AutoCAD in Linux using Wine, the fact remains that it is expensive software, with no source code available. This article instead focuses on CAD software released under a freely distributable license, yet which retains a lot of the functionality offered by AutoCAD. |
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Comments (64)
...But it's still not autocad or microstation...
43 earlier comments in the full thread.
I have two questions (for now) regarding licensing when using open source software at the corporate level. I'm rather naive when it comes to this...
Say we decide to switch to Open Office, is there any licensing involved or we can use it gratis and pay for support from OOo? We would be installing on 4-5 thousand pc's, laptops,tablets.
If we decide to use MySQL at the corporate level to replace mssql server on some of our home developed apps same question applies?
Thank for everything... advice, criticism, information and cajoling.
Have a great weekend.
NicSmr
Say we decide to switch to Open Office, is there any licensing involved or we can use it gratis and pay for support from OOo? We would be installing on 4-5 thousand pc's, laptops,tablets.
If we decide to use MySQL at the corporate level to replace mssql server on some of our home developed apps same question applies?
Thank for everything... advice, criticism, information and cajoling.
Have a great weekend.
NicSmr
Quoting:Say we decide to switch to Open Office, is there any licensing involved or we can use it gratis and pay for support from OOo? We would be installing on 4-5 thousand pc's, laptops,tablets.
What you probably want is Star Office from Sun Microsystems. It is essentially OpenOffice plus a few proprietary filters for document conversion with corporate support available. The idea was that Star Office is the supported, commercial version and OpenOffice is the free version without support. Third parties (consulting firms) will support OpenOffice but Sun won't. OpenOffice is essentially a recompile of Star Office with nothing proprietary.
Quoting: If we decide to use MySQL at the corporate level to replace mssql server on some of our home developed apps same question applies?
Yes, there is commercial MySQL support for MySQL AB, which is part of Sun, which was recently purchased by Oracle.
@Caitlyn
Thanks for that...
Off topic... here we're not quite sure about what to think about the future of MySQL now that Oracle has injested it. We are an Oracle shop here. It's one of the pillars of our GIS, PeopleSoft and SAP systems. We use other dbms's to run vendor apps that require them (DB2, MS SQL server, a coupe of OLD HP minicomputer databases that I don't remember the name off and surprisingly 2 MySQL systems).
Thanks Again and have a great weekend. It's finally summer here. Damm mosqitoes...
NicSmr
Thanks for that...
Off topic... here we're not quite sure about what to think about the future of MySQL now that Oracle has injested it. We are an Oracle shop here. It's one of the pillars of our GIS, PeopleSoft and SAP systems. We use other dbms's to run vendor apps that require them (DB2, MS SQL server, a coupe of OLD HP minicomputer databases that I don't remember the name off and surprisingly 2 MySQL systems).
Thanks Again and have a great weekend. It's finally summer here. Damm mosqitoes...
NicSmr
Well... you have two options. Oracle is developed on Linux and their support for the major (read: commercial) Linux distros is generally very good. You could stay with Oracle and just change the underlying OS (Windows -> Linux) and arguably be better off not just in terms of security, performance, and scalability of the OS but also for being on the native Oracle platform.
I also don't know what will happen with MySQL. My guess is that it won't die. It's FOSS, so if Oracle drops it someone else can and likely will pick it up. That wouldn't be a bad outcome. More likely is that Oracle will treat it as the red headed stepchild and give it little backing or resources while trying to maintain control. If that happens someone could and likely would fork the project. It is very, very difficult to stymie or kill an Open Source project :) If Oracle realizes this their best approach would be to continue MySQL AB as a separate business unit. That would likely be the best for everyone concerned.
I'm not saying your concerns about MySQL aren't justified or valid. They may well be. I just don't believe that Oracle will be able to kill or even seriously damage MySQL.
I also don't know what will happen with MySQL. My guess is that it won't die. It's FOSS, so if Oracle drops it someone else can and likely will pick it up. That wouldn't be a bad outcome. More likely is that Oracle will treat it as the red headed stepchild and give it little backing or resources while trying to maintain control. If that happens someone could and likely would fork the project. It is very, very difficult to stymie or kill an Open Source project :) If Oracle realizes this their best approach would be to continue MySQL AB as a separate business unit. That would likely be the best for everyone concerned.
I'm not saying your concerns about MySQL aren't justified or valid. They may well be. I just don't believe that Oracle will be able to kill or even seriously damage MySQL.
Actually we have a couple of red hat servers running development ORACLE DB. I just mentioned that we were big time oracle users so a transistion to red hat server would be almost painless (i just jinxed it, didn't I?).
I believe that MySQL has already been forked by none other than Monty himself. He explained a bit about it at the linuxfest NW in Bellinghan WA in April. A great event BTY.
What oracle will do will be a mystery until it happens, we can only hope they maintain it properly. If not there is always Postgress...
I believe that MySQL has already been forked by none other than Monty himself. He explained a bit about it at the linuxfest NW in Bellinghan WA in April. A great event BTY.
What oracle will do will be a mystery until it happens, we can only hope they maintain it properly. If not there is always Postgress...
As concerns MySQL, you may wish to read this:
http://practical-tech.com/development/mysql-forks/
Even before the Oracle purchase of Sun, Monty was already working on his fork. His company also offers 24/7 support.
http://practical-tech.com/development/mysql-forks/
Even before the Oracle purchase of Sun, Monty was already working on his fork. His company also offers 24/7 support.
There you go... I should have followed that more closely.
I should also mention that the GIS app EPA was running had a PostgreSQL back end. Depending on what you are doing Postgres may be a viable alternative.
I should also mention that the GIS app EPA was running had a PostgreSQL back end. Depending on what you are doing Postgres may be a viable alternative.
@Caitlyn and Bigg
In my previous post I mentioned that I heard Monty himself speak about the fork he created at the Linuxfest NW. If I'm not mistaken he named it after his daughter. I forget the name.
In my previous post I mentioned that I heard Monty himself speak about the fork he created at the Linuxfest NW. If I'm not mistaken he named it after his daughter. I forget the name.
MariaDB
@bigg
Yes that's it. thanks
Yes that's it. thanks
Thought it might be nice to mention, I did make very small progress on the 'mechanical CAD' side:
Tried installing AD Inventor 2008 on Wine 1.1.23, but it halted after it "couldn't find the CD", while clearly the d:/ directory in ~/.wine/ was linked to the directory where I loop-mounted the image of the first CD. Bit sad, don't know how to progress any further.
Good news is I successfully installed .NET framework 2.0 in wine, which is pretty amazing on its own, and I worked around another bug running a vim-script on the .wine/system.reg file (now, if only that could be done in Windows!)
And the installation did initialize. Then it asks me for the CD.
Funny thing is, as I mentioned earlier, AD AutoCAD (Mechanical) is part of AD Inventor; until now I haven't found a way to install A'CAD without Inventor. Or I should use an old version or something.
Also looked at FreeCAD again (not to be confused with freeCAD app or FreeCAD.com directory, kinda lame all these names) and they made some small progress too; though it seems they only made a 'roadmap'. Still lack of developers on their part however.
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/free-cad/index.php?tit...
And the devs of PythonOCC made a
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/free-cad/index.php?tit...
which sure is a nice Free Software wrapper* to at least view STEP, IGES, STL and BRep in Linux. DXF files can be viewed in Linux using QCad; but I'm not sure if the LGPL version of it can be used in corp env. however.
Tried installing AD Inventor 2008 on Wine 1.1.23, but it halted after it "couldn't find the CD", while clearly the d:/ directory in ~/.wine/ was linked to the directory where I loop-mounted the image of the first CD. Bit sad, don't know how to progress any further.
Good news is I successfully installed .NET framework 2.0 in wine, which is pretty amazing on its own, and I worked around another bug running a vim-script on the .wine/system.reg file (now, if only that could be done in Windows!)
And the installation did initialize. Then it asks me for the CD.
Funny thing is, as I mentioned earlier, AD AutoCAD (Mechanical) is part of AD Inventor; until now I haven't found a way to install A'CAD without Inventor. Or I should use an old version or something.
Also looked at FreeCAD again (not to be confused with freeCAD app or FreeCAD.com directory, kinda lame all these names) and they made some small progress too; though it seems they only made a 'roadmap'. Still lack of developers on their part however.
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/free-cad/index.php?tit...
And the devs of PythonOCC made a
Quoting:CADViewer, a sample app that can load/display STEP/IGES/STL/BRep files
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/free-cad/index.php?tit...
which sure is a nice Free Software wrapper* to at least view STEP, IGES, STL and BRep in Linux. DXF files can be viewed in Linux using QCad; but I'm not sure if the LGPL version of it can be used in corp env. however.
@nicsmr:
(Warning: OOo file) see list for OOo consultants/support companies worldwide: http://bizdev.openoffice.org/consultants.ods
(Warning: OOo file) see list for OOo consultants/support companies worldwide: http://bizdev.openoffice.org/consultants.ods
Quoting:Actually we have a couple of red hat servers running development ORACLE DB.
If you are going to move to Oracle proper on Linux then they will probably offer you Unbreakable Linux instead. That's Red Hat under another name. Everything else is the same down to the last bit. Oracle offers support for both their database as well as for Unbreakable Linux. That means you only have one vendor to deal with instead of two :-)
Quoting: ... Oracle offers support for both their database as well as for Unbreakable Linux. That means you only have one vendor to deal with instead of two ...[warning serious] [admission] I have had no personal experience with Oracle support, however, I have seen too many complaints about the quality of Oracle support for their database for lesser companies to be comfortable recommending Oracle to cover both its db and the OS it runs upon. I can be of no direct help here, however, I would recommend researching the experiences of similar sized companies before I would rely upon Oracle solely.
I have seen Linux Red Hat servers moved into a fairly large concern, from a distance* and I was impressed. While the same company also changed from their default database to Oracle, I did not hear of their going totally with Oracle for support on their Linux servers. However, this may have predated the Oracle clone and I might not have access to the information on changes in their support programs. This was an international concern where despite being at a major location, I was not privy to much of the software policy decisions.
YBT
* Indeed, it was my inherent interest in Linux that led me to trip across the internal chats where the introduction of Linux was being performed. Once in, Linux became the default server of choice, as I heard personally** from the departing CIO.
** That is, I was in the room.
[/end serious stuff]
> I have seen too many complaints about the quality of Oracle support for their database for lesser companies to be comfortable recommending Oracle to cover both its db and the OS it runs upon.
While I can't speak to Oracle support, everyone I've ever encountered who uses Red Hat says their support is excellent. And I know their old Red Hat Linux knowledge base support was second to none, as I used it frequently answering questions online.
While I can't speak to Oracle support, everyone I've ever encountered who uses Red Hat says their support is excellent. And I know their old Red Hat Linux knowledge base support was second to none, as I used it frequently answering questions online.
I am likely biased because I spent seven months as part of the Red Hat support system (as a consultant) and was offered a permanent position. (I declined it as the heavy travel requirement was seriously affecting my health and therfore my job performance as well.) IMHO, Red Hat support is first rate. They have top notch people who know their stuff.
AFAIK Red Hat Enterprise Linux is still an officially supported platform for Oracle. (CentOS is not.) That means that while Oracle may want to sell you Unbreakable Linux and they may push it heavily you can still decline and just buy the database.
My main complaint with Oracle support is that they are often slow to patch security vulnerabilities or to support dot releases to RHEL which close security vulnerabilities. You often have to wait months with a known vulnerability on your server before you can patch without risking seriously breaking Oracle. A change in kernel (or kernel patches) often results in breakage.
AFAIK Red Hat Enterprise Linux is still an officially supported platform for Oracle. (CentOS is not.) That means that while Oracle may want to sell you Unbreakable Linux and they may push it heavily you can still decline and just buy the database.
My main complaint with Oracle support is that they are often slow to patch security vulnerabilities or to support dot releases to RHEL which close security vulnerabilities. You often have to wait months with a known vulnerability on your server before you can patch without risking seriously breaking Oracle. A change in kernel (or kernel patches) often results in breakage.
You may be right about the respective quality of Red Hat v.s. Oracle support. However there is an advantage of just having to talk to a single vendor. If something doesn't work then Oracle should be able to solve. With multiple vendors you always run the risk that Oracle says it's a problem with Red Hat and Red Hat says it's an Oracle problem.
Well, if Oracle is certified to run on RHEL4, and you've installed Oracle on RHEL4, and then Oracle isn't working, you take it to Oracle and say, "YOU said this would run!". Red Hat doesn't care for the most part what you run on their system, so Oracle's bumps and bruises isn't Red Hat's problem.
Sander, if it's a single purpose server that might make sense if Oracle service is now up to snuff. If the database backend is sharing a server with something else (i.e.: a front-end app) going with Oracle for the OS won't solve the multiple vendor issue. In my experience neither Oracle nor Red Hat get into the finger pointing game. Novell does and is horrible that way. Red Hat and Oracle not so much.
... another CAD app
gCAD3D 3D CADCAM software.
For both Linux and MS-Windows.
Info in English at http://www.gcad3d.org/gCAD3D_en.htm Noticeably German-centered, even in gCAD3D's English translation.
gCAD3D uses the following third-party software : OpenGL - 3D-display (www.opengl.org) GTK - Userinterface (www.gtk.org) gtkglext - GTK-OpenGL-Binding (sourceforge.net/projects/gtkglext) djpeg - Imagedecompression, the Independent JPEG Group (www.ijg.org) NSIS - PackageBuilder (MS-Windows only)(nsis.sourceforge.net) Doxygen - DeveloperDocumentation(www.doxygen.org)
Of passing note is that gCAD3D seems to have been successfully used in Puppy Linux. See full thread on gCAD3D's success with this, at http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=21514
Info in English at http://www.gcad3d.org/gCAD3D_en.htm Noticeably German-centered, even in gCAD3D's English translation.
gCAD3D uses the following third-party software : OpenGL - 3D-display (www.opengl.org) GTK - Userinterface (www.gtk.org) gtkglext - GTK-OpenGL-Binding (sourceforge.net/projects/gtkglext) djpeg - Imagedecompression, the Independent JPEG Group (www.ijg.org) NSIS - PackageBuilder (MS-Windows only)(nsis.sourceforge.net) Doxygen - DeveloperDocumentation(www.doxygen.org)
Of passing note is that gCAD3D seems to have been successfully used in Puppy Linux. See full thread on gCAD3D's success with this, at http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=21514
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If that integration depends on the inner workings of Autocad, then all bets are off. However, if it only depends on the file formatting, then A9Cad may well be an option. Like I said, it's worth a look. I know about it because I had to look for an Autocad replacement here at work once, and it was the best of the options I could find.