What is the best (affordable!) CAD software for a hobbyist with no experience? I was recently looking into this and the leading software was like 6,000 USD a year per seat.
Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
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Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
FreeCAD is the closest, but unlike the Eagle vs Kicad comparison, it's miles behind Inventor and Solid works. I just bought a lifetime license for Alibre CAD, it's for profit closed source but much more usable. FreeCAD needs a benefactor like CERN for KiCAD to bring it up to speed.
I try to use freeCAD whenever possible. I'm not a professional level, and assemblies are a bit scary, but its overall a nice tool. Just the other day I cloned one of these[1] in freecad using the image importing and scaling, quickly made a trace, added a pad and some chamfers, and had it on the 3d printer in about 25 minutes. I'd love if FreeCAD got a benefactor like you mention. [1] https://www.amazon.com/TILISMA-Bo…
The beauty of 3D printing, and the community is that you could have saved yourself some time and downloaded one of the many, many versions of this available online already.
I want to love FreeCAD, but it is hard to work with for complex designs compared to other tools; topological naming has been an absolute nightmare, but I persevere, it's improving slowly. At least now I'm less likely to have to throw away hours/days of design because I got into a mess.
As a Linux user, my options are slim, so I keep learning FreeCAD, and SCAD, but I'm always a little jealous when I watch a YouTube tutorial of how to do something that takes relative ease in tool X, but is an order of magnitude more complex to do in FreeCAD.
FreeCAD getting a benefactor that can propel it ahead would be huge; donations are great, but my measly donation is barely going to cover the cost of a bug fix.
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Has there ever been an example of an industry standard tool losing out to FOSS alternatives? Ever? There are reasons for that.
Firefox, Chromium vs Internet Explorer, Opera, old Edge, even Netscape.
There hasn’t really been a market for paid browsers since the mid 90s.
If you’re giving put your software for free reusing OSS components makes a lot more sense KHTML -> webkit -> blink
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#74Time to invest the comparable amount of money in FOSS alternatives? FreeCAD, LibreCAD, BRL-CAD, and so on.
FreeCAD is the closest, but unlike the Eagle vs Kicad comparison, it's miles behind Inventor and Solid works. I just bought a lifetime license for Alibre CAD, it's for profit closed source but much more usable. FreeCAD needs a benefactor like CERN for KiCAD to bring it up to speed.
You need an massive amount of money indeed to have a free product that matches the Autodesk commercial offer in CAD tools. Like some EU grant or something. I know FreeCAD is used by corporations such as Behringer, are they even giving back to open source? I doubt it, but it's apparently good enough for them...
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#75I’ve always pirated AutoCAD and will continue to do so. I use it occasionally and just for hobby stuff, nothing commercial. So why would I pay out the ass for that? Same story with Photoshop. Ohhhh it might contain malware… I don’t really give a damn because to me it’s the only option, paying $10, $20, $50/month for software I hardly use but still kind of need is not an option.
Run pirated software in a containerized/VM instance of Windows (or even macOS) and you’ll be alright.
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Has there ever been an example of an industry standard tool losing out to FOSS alternatives? Ever? There are reasons for that.
Many. Perforce to Git. Many proprietary mobile operating systems to Android (partly FOSS but still).
Mobile OSes were always more of a cost center than a product in its own right.
In these cases OSS tends to be way more competitive.
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#77What is the best (affordable!) CAD software for a hobbyist with no experience? I was recently looking into this and the leading software was like 6,000 USD a year per seat.
Solidworks is good but not affordable.
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#78Time to invest the comparable amount of money in FOSS alternatives? FreeCAD, LibreCAD, BRL-CAD, and so on.
I'm with you in the spirit of hurting Autodesk, but the FOSS alternatives, while able to produce a similar product, simply use different metaphors and concepts then F360/Inventor/etc do.
It's not like the switch from WinRAR to 7-Zip, it's a long ordeal of the (possibly already overloaded) designer learning how to do everything over again. There is very little carry-over aside from general design knowledge; and it may take a very long time for that person to become productive in whatever they choose - which by that time their just-learned software package may be the new software package to hate.
All I mean to express is that it takes a lot more than a money investment. F360 only remains dominant because -- pardon the expression -- they have a lot of us by the balls in some way.
I'd love to break free, but those that pay for my design work will be hard-pressed to understand the sudden drop in productivity, the worse deliverables/renderings/the lessened compatibility with file types/the list goes on.
It feels like the competitors need to cover some ground before a reasonable expectation can be made for the people that have to pay the bills with it to move over.
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#79I believe you can run a cracked version legally in the US provided it gives you the same functionality as what you had licensed, you aren't so much "circumventing a technological measure" but instead making it work correctly per the terms of your license.
Isn’t circumventing/“cracking” DRM a crime in it’s own right in the US?
Re: Louis Rossmann: Autodesk turns lifetime licenses into subscriptions [video]
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which distributions? I switched some of my machines due to the increasing user hostility in Windows, but found it a big pain in the ass, even as a developer. And that's not even considering how many programs/games will only work on Windows.
A lot if this will boil down to what you found to be a pain. I hate to "give you more work," but do you have a list of things that you found particularly difficult?
It's death by a thousand paper cuts. No problems are a real blocker for somebody who is good with tech, but it's still more effort that I'd like to spend. I'm willing to endure that because Microsoft has become too user hostile since Win10. But I don't see how a non technical person is supposed to deal with it.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36549295 has some of my complaints about my work laptop