[cad-linux] Re: cad-linux still alive [if only on life-support...
- From: "Lars O. Grobe" <grobe@xxxxxxx>
- To: cad-linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:36:15 +0800
Hi,
this is a rather old thread now, still I would like to add some comments.
First - cad is a wide range of applications. In some of them, Linux
stands very well. In other, it does not exist. Unfortunately, me, being
an architect, I am located in the former ones, where cad means either
windows or mac os x. However, the opposite scenario, where architects
are forced to use linux because of a lack of the software needed on
other platform also (in some cases) exists. Not in cad.
What is cad for linux looking like at the moment? cad for producing 2d
drawings seams to be in a terrible state. Astonishing, as there is a
bunch of powerful 2d vector engines available, and dtp can be easily
done on linux right now. Still, there is no link to models from these 2d
engines, and as such, we cannot really use them for generating drawings.
cad for 3d is much better. Especially if we look at modelling-focused
applications. Not only the typical modelling tools are under very active
development and also commercially available (blender, houdini, maya,
...). Also what I would consider 3d cad is developing - a number of
opencascade projects are in a race towards a solid modeling framework
including a friendly gui. And while these are all work in progress, they
already give us an idea on the power we can expect from open source cad
on linux. Integration with standards is e.g. better even for some
early-development-codes, then what we experience from commercial
propietary applications that have been in use for decades. It looks like
iges- and step-support, 3d-printing and similar stuff is just standard
for open-source developments. Still - these are work in progress, and
functionality in drawing, modeling is not really given yet.
But - it points us to the fact that development in open source world
looks different. When we will have the first big open source cad appear
one day, it will lack a lot of mainstream features, it will have a rough
gui, a lot of people complaining about the fact that it does not look
like Aut0cad. But this is not a limitation - it is the concept of open
source. People who are happy with the products available use those. It
is those developers who want something different, who put the big
efforts into such projects. And thus, we will see lots of rather
strange, yet powerful features. And than, maybe later, the application
will get its polish to become mainstream-cad. So I am watching the
various developmemts of cads which look not very useable for many taks
yet, but offer strengths where commercial systems fail, with a lot of
excitement.
Still, I observe what I have been mourning about some years ago. The
fact that many developer groups start independent projects, making them
small groups without a critical mass of ressources and little interest
attracted, weakens development speed. Taken alone the many groups
basically working on GUIs to form opencascade-based solid modellers, one
may wonder what these would have achieved bundling their forces. But
this can still happen.
Cheers, Lars.
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