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CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

mattferraro.dev

91–100 of 243 posts

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#91
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Onshape is an excellent tool in terms of performance and usability. As total newbie I was able to design fully working robot arm with 3d printed joints, design all the motors, their placements and other stuff and even animate movement. The model even worked on my phone, while it was not very practical...

I had 10y or so experience with CAD when onshape showed up around 2014. You could tell from the beginning that they cared a ton about usability and had their minds wrapped around how people use CAD. It’s only got better since. I highly recommend the cadmium folks just soak themselves in onshape’s UX.

Why is open source always so bad at UUX - it's so frustrating. I believe the people who say FreeCAD is powerful but I'm skeptical I will ever experience it.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just told the developer of a non-open source project to take your GPL code. That is a recipe for a copyright dispute.

> the developer of a non-open source project The first line of the article says "We're building a new open-source CAD program"

It's elastic license unfortunately: https://github.com/MattFerraro/CADmium/blob/main/LICENSE.md

Which is a shame because the AGPL has nearly the same effect & the bonus of unjustifiably terrifying big-corp legal teams.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#93
post #33
post #4

Weirdly hard to find the actual project urls: https://mattferraro.github.io/CADmium/ https://github.com/MattFerraro/CADmium

Quoting directly from that github: "Status: Early prototype. This tool is not yet an MVP, but is being developed in the open. Please do not share this to HN or Reddit or things like that."

Whoops

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#94
post #8

We spend a lot of time working on the correct type system for STEP, I don't think that using an untyped format like JSON is a good idea. I know that ISO 10303-243 uses JSON but in hindsight I think that was a mistake.

Doesn't JSON plus a schema give you typing?

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#97

I really hope CADmium can wean me off of OpenSCAD. With OpenSCAD, I don't really have to think at first; I use a simple language to write modules that build on other modules. The problem with OpenSCAD is there's no solver: I have variables, but no constraints. As I make changes, suddenly I have to think hard and solve the constraints manually and it's easy to introduce errors. However, the problem isn't severe enough…

Can you explain the problem with openscad a little more? I’m not quite following.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the developer of a non-open source project The first line of the article says "We're building a new open-source CAD program"

It's elastic license unfortunately: https://github.com/MattFerraro/CADmium/blob/main/LICENSE.md Which is a shame because the AGPL has nearly the same effect & the bonus of unjustifiably terrifying big-corp legal teams.

I'm confused, IIUC the AGPL can be simplified as "you can offer this software over the network, but like GPL the source must be available".

Whereas Elastic license is about, "you must not deliver this software over the network as a cloud service".

The things the Elastic license is trying to prevent seem very different to me?

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#99
post #72

Totally going to check this out. I've been rooting for FreeCAD but I think it's just going to be consumed by Ondsel in the next few years. Does CADmium suffer from a topological naming problem like FreeCAD?

> I've been rooting for FreeCAD but I think it's just going to be consumed by Ondsel in the next few years. Extremely unlikely. Also, no such plans :)

I appreciate the sentiment. But we both know that plans change. Especially in the software world and even more so in the startup business.

Also, "no plans" doesn't really mean much. "I guarantee" is a lot more meaningful.

Re: CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser

#100

I'm very excited about what Matt is building, the world desperately needs a good open source parametric CAD package. One where the UI/UX is designed to be as "easy" to use a SolidWorks. The biggest reason this hasn't happened so far is the lack of a truly capable parametric kernel, Truck, the kernel that Matt is using looks like an incredible project and exactly whats needed. The only other kennel till now that been…

I will say that the FreeCAD weekly builds have made massive strides; I believe the toponaming fix is in the latest mainline weekly now and Ondsel have been contributing great work back from their branch as well.

I’ve been playing around with the weekly version and using the OpenDark theme. It looks pretty slick.

It seems like a really exciting time for open-source CAD (hopefully!).

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