[KLUG Members] A Windows Alternative? (For CAD)

[Adam Williams]

>>http://www.cadenceweb.com/newsletter/mcad/0902_2.html
>>Although there is no miraculous information in this
>>article concerning Linux and CAD, it does show that it
>>is out there and it is just around the corner.
>In my previous occupation as an engineer I used Autocad 3-6 hours per day. 
>Availability of cad applications (free or otherwise) has been a thorn in my side
>for some time.  Autocad has a chokehold on much of the industry similar to our
>friend.
>Problem 1)  There are no strong open source cad projects.

Not 3d ones anyway,  I think it may just be too monumentous of a task.  My 
gripe is that none of the ones (until qcad) spoke HPGL, so they didn't 
work with plotters.  Who wants to look at a floor plan on a 8x11 sheet 
printed on a laser printer?  Not me.

>Problem 2)  The industry is locked to the closed .dwg format by big businesses
>like the auto industry.

Ah yes, I remember Bryan Smiths rants about this.  But don't ask about 
getting an hourglass cursor in GNOME!

>Problem 3)  Lack of demand as stated.

True,  highly vertical applications have taken longer to arrive then 
general purpose ones.  It makes sense.  Look how long it was before we had 
decent financial applications.

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