[cad-linux] Re: Just...
- From: "Brian Johnson" <bjohnson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <cad-linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 09:06:12 -0500
From my civil engineering viewpoint, any new CAD program should be very
flexible (ie provide the drafting tools) and any additional framework should
be built as an add-on package.
On any given week, our office is involved with building design (building
layout design after building code review and structural design), site work
(sewers, parking lots, roads and grading), and machinery drafting for safety
reviews - any built-in object design methodology had better include all of
these functions in order for it to be flexible for us to use it. We are not
interested in using different packages for each function since it inevitably
leads to inconsistencies.
On the other end of the spectrum, I realize that other people/offices don't
need to be so versatile, so a simplified interface may be desired.
That's why we use AutoCAD ($5000) and not some house drafting program ($200)
I really think that as soon as you start building specialization into the
main CAD package, you severely limit the number of people interested in it.
A main CAD backend to handle the drafting with an API for interfaces to talk
to would be best.
Of course, in true open source style, I expect that any CAD package be built
to suit the purposes of the people writing it, any modification,
specialization could be left to someone else.
At this point, I need a reliable linux CAD package - 2D drawings objects,
paper space/model space, good layer control, good printing, good layer
control, and it has to be fast. I've tried Intellicad under Windows but it
seems to bog down if your drawings exceed about 1 Mb
Any additional design tools would be appreciated, but they cannot act to
exclude other uses for the CAD program, they cannot slow down the program
too much, and they cannot be too difficult to use for the advantages they
offer (a la Autodesk Land Development Desktop). Since it is difficult to
address all of the design tools that might be needed, I can't imagine that
anyone can provide them all, so a good backend should be the priority for
any new package (IMO)
-----Original Message-----
From: cad-linux-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:cad-linux-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Vishal Belsare
Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 1:30 AM
To: cad-linux
Subject: [cad-linux] Just...
Greetings to all,
It is very encouraging to see this list with increasing activity at time
progresses. Three Kudos to all those contributing!
Now, I am not any programmer. In fact I am from the one of fields most
remote from comp. programming. I am an architect :-)). Most of the
discussions I have read are engineering oriented. Agreed that the majority
of the members must be from the engineering domain. But I would be
interested to know of any active opensource CAAD project or maybe even
people with plain ideas. I say CAAD because I emphasise: Computer Aided
Architectural Design. There are softwares like Octree and Cycas, but are not
Opensource.
Are there any people out there thinking in the same direction? However my
inclination towards architectural design software should not be taken for an
exclusion of the ever-imporant engineering domain either. In fact any CAD
software shares most of its base in both. Could there be a project with
completely different ideology? CAD porgrams with a Constraint engine built
into it? Or maybe a hierarchial tree of represented objects? Apart from
taking CAD as Comp. Aided Drafting, could we also talk of Comp. Aided Design
& Drafting?
And instead of *almost always* trying to make Autodesk software as a role
model, could we free our thinking and develop ideas in alternative and
possibly more productive direction? With no offence, I personally find
AutoCAD too restrictive for any design process, too linear. And in my humble
opinion that's exactly what design is not. Since this list is devoted to CAD
for Linux, does it not suggest that here is a great opportunity to develop
ideas anew? Linux and more generally the opensource movement itself has
generated a great synergy. Isn't there scope for completely breaking away
from traditions and explore new ideas in CAD? Many discussions are about
file viewers, about shareware cad softwares. That's good but even better if
there's some about new ideas too.
Hope that there are atleast a few who share my view and will talk out. But
anyways, this list is a pretty good one :-)
Regards,
Vishal.
It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of
instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curious of inquiry.
It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and
searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.
~ Albert Einstein.
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