Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Updating the High Priority List

[arthur_torrey]

The thing I've been grumbling about almost since I started using Free Software 
all to many years ago is the lack of a competent 3-D CAD package....  LibreCAD 
is OK for 2D, and it is being actively maintained and worked on, but it is ONLY 
a 2-D package, and a lot of people look at you like you are nuts for even 
considering using a 2-D package these days....

I have looked at several open / free 3-D packages and have yet to find one I 
could actually do useful (as in can take the drawing to a machine and MAKE the 
part....)

If we have ANYTHING that compares to SolidWorks for capability, or the Autodesk 
Creative Suite, I have never heard about it...

There are a few 'Free Beer' trap programs like OnShape that offer 'free' 
'Software as a Service' 3-D capabilities but that is no less of a trap than 
proprietary software....

As an 'inmate' at the Artisan's Asylum, one of the worlds largest hacker 
spaces, I get a lot of grief because I refuse to use the Solidworks / HSMworks 
/ AutoDesk / MatLab / Simulink installs in our computer lab that are 'Free' for 
me to use as a member....

What FLOSS 3D package can compete?  Solidworks / HSMWorks can do FEA analysis 
on the drawing, can animate the moving parts to check for proper operation and 
fit, and can then generate the G-code needed to make the part on most CNC 
machines...

As an ethical Free Software person, I have to generate HAND WRITTEN G-code (can 
take longer than drafting the part, and mistakes are potentially catastrophic 
that we don't even ALLOW hand written code on some of our machines....

Inkscape might be able to animate a drawing, as long as you don't care about 
dimensions...

I'm told there are FEA tools, but not that take a drawing from anything else....

ART

======== Original TRIMMED message ==========
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2016 09:35:31 +0100
From: Fabio Pesari <fabiop@gnu.org>
To: libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
Subject: [libreplanet-discuss] Updating the High Priority List
Message-ID: <56B30D53.8060902@gnu.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority-projects/

This list is severely outdated. What about we propose new high-priority
projects? What proprietary programs (or network services without free
servers) do you or the people around you use _daily_ that haven't been
replaced by free software? Which free programs need more attention in
order to replace their proprietary counterparts?
<SNIP>


------------------
Arthur Torrey - <arthur_torrey@comcast.net>
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