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Comment on What programs do you wish a good FOSS alternative existed, but doesn't or most of the FOSS alternatives simply aren't good?

Zonetrooper@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

3D CAD software. There are a few options out there (FreeCAD, LibreCAD, etc) and Blender is a thing that exists for more artistic 3D modeling. But they simply don’t hold a candle to the features and capabilities of the paid packages, which typically have costs in the 4-to-5-digit range. And I’m not talking the crazy high-end simulation options - those I understand, they’re hard - but basic modeling features.

Hell, I’d even settle for a CAD package that had some solid basic features and had a reasonable purchase cost. Unfortunately the few providers have the industry by the throat, and so your options are “free but terrible” and “you need a mortgage to use this”.

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MrIamsosmrt@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I use solidworks for makers which is actually affordable for private use. I prefer paying $50 a year over having to deal with freecad and I dont even use CAD software that often.

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- Zonetrooper@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I’m in a similar boat right now - I use the Student Edition ($60-100 a year, depending on sales, locally installed vs. using the cloud-based 3Dexperience).
  
  It’s not a bad deal by any means, but I do wish I didn’t have to deal with annual reinstalls and perpetually worrying Dassault is going to decide to take it away.
  
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TheFonz@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
You beat me to it. The moment someone makes a FOSS cad program where the ui doesn’t suck a donkeys ball they will be the goat

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Jocarnail@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
FreeCAD is getting better but it would really benefit for a big improvement in stability and UX

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Yaky@slrpnk.net ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I have been using OpenSCAD to make models for 3D-printing. I know this is a specific use case, and I have no experience with the “real” CAD software, but OpenSCAD makes sense to me as a programmer.

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- megrania@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Second this, I’ve tried TinkerCAD before and the whole Idea of CSG started to make sense, and then I found that OpenSCAD does something very similar, just with code … I find it very satisfying … I guess if you’re making highly asymmetrical, organic shapes, you might have some puzzles to solve … but I’m mostly making loudspeakers, so basically boxed with holes, and it’s not a huge problem.
  
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- hagelslager@feddit.nl ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  It’s really aimed at programmers, but for someone who is used to the better known proprietary versions (so with sketching and “shaping” with a mouse,), it’s barely useable.
  
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