[KLUG Members] Re: File type DXF?

[Adam Williams]

>>It's an AutoCad format. ASCII Drawing Interchange Files.
>>- http://www.cica.indiana.edu/graphics/object_specs/DXF.format.txt

Yep, qcad (free, GPL'd) opened it just fine.  Of course it is one of
those cruddy Qt apps. ;)

Does anyone use CAD software on Linux?  If so, what is your favorite
flavor?

...snipped... (response rant follows)...
>And not perfect either.  Data loss is near absolute when talking more
>than a few revisions back, cannot save to older formats either.  When
>combined with the above 2, designed to keep a "moving target" in file
>format compatibility that others cannot hit.
>Flagship product Cost:   $500-1,000   $3,000-5,000
>Very expensive versus equivalent software.  Can maintain price because
>competitor software cannot deal with above 3 adequately.
>"Light version"          Works        LT

Mmmm.  I think comparing Autocad and Office is unfair.  Office just is
"another stupid" office automation (word processing, spreadsheet,
etc..), a software category that hasn't made any significant
improvements (arguably, but IMHO) since GEOS on the Commodore 64.  The
reason Autocad maintains it's "monopoly" (which it doesn't really have)
is because the people who use it every day... really know HOW to use
it.  And the cost-per-hour of such a person is usually pretty high,  so
you give them what makes them the most productive irregardless of the
cost.
 
>Both Microsoft and Autodesk products are *NOT* good for "everything."  I
>get sick and tired of hearing people say "Office is the standard" or
>"AutoCAD is the standard."  They are _so_limited_ in their capabilities,
>but people don't realize it.

If AutoCAD has limited capacity then whatever product your comparing it
to must be amazing.
 
> Word can *NOT* be used for publication and Microsoft Access is one
> bastard of a database that probably accounts for more IT waste than
> anything I can think of.  AutoCAD is not something well-used outside of
> civil/environmental engineering, and has a Microsoft-like "partner"

Maybe it is a regional thing,  but everywhere I go here (robotic and
aerospace firms,  tool-n-die shops, everything is done on AutoCad).

>amtosphere that 3rd parties cannot break into.  For publication, word
>processors suck and give way to desktop publishing (DTP) and typeset,

But if your not doing DTP, it isn't a problem.

>So, who's at fault for this?  THE USER!  WE CHOOSE THE APPS!
>But that is another story.  ;-PPP

And the same applies for cultural degeneration, environmental problems,
etc...  But what constitutes a "problem" is what all the arguing is
about.