Re: Little activity ?

Also try this:
http://www.intellicad.org/
Ernst

Matt Shaver wrote:

> From: "Matt Shaver" <mshaver@...>
>
> > From: "Arne Chr. Jorgensen" <instel@...>
> > Just wondered if anyone are familiar with LinuxCAD ?
> > http://www.softwareforge.com/linuxcad
> >
> > This is a replacement for AutoCad, under Linux. Is it any good ?
> >
> > Could be interesting, as I am familiar with AutoCad.
>
> I bought a copy of this junk without doing any research first. Luckily I only
> lost $99. Some relevant links are:
>
> http://pw2.netcom.com/~rwuest/linuxcadreview.html
>
> and
>
> http://www.zip.com.au/~erikd/lcad.html
>
> Over the years I have bought a lot of software and most of it has been a
> disappointment. I don't mind paying for software. It's just that there's
> little to no actual support to be had. If you find a bug, or need another
> feature you are wasting your time if you call the manufacturer.
> I would be really interested in finding a way to pool the financial resources
> of a group of people who all wanted a certain software application written
> (CAM software for example). We could then hammer out a spec and hire some
> programmers to make it a reality. Once its basic functions work (that is, it
> has enough function to be useful and not some alpha stage curiosity) and it's
> RELIABLE we release it, with full source, under a loose license like the GPL.
> You might ask, "Why give away the store?". The answer is that once you get a
> project like this going it tends to become self perpetuating. My hope is that
> other people will use the basic application as a platform to which they add
> new features they need. Under the GPL these improvements get plowed back into
> the publicly available version and the application grows. The trick is to
> gain the necessary momentum and burst onto the scene with something good
> enough to attract attention. I believe that contrary to the "release early,
> release often" philosophy of some open source advocates that you need to
> bring something substantial to the table early on. A good example of what not
> to do is:
>
> http://www.fpa-engineers.com/OD/
>
> I'm sure these guys mean well, but I think they'll have a tough time
> attracting the interest of developers without at least SOMETHING to build
> from.
>
> What we could do is what Microsoft does. They write some of their own stuff,
> but to save time they also buy whole companies to acquire technologies they
> need rather than reinventing the wheel (they also do this to eliminate
> competition, but that is another story).
>
> WARNING - THE FOLLOWING IS ENTIRELY HYPOTHETICAL!!!
>
> Ron Ginger has written a really nice little CNC/CAM program (I mean it really
> is nice, that's not the hypothetical part). It's not completely finished, but
> there's a lot there including some really nice graphical toolpath displays
> and the ability to generate CNC code for a MillPower system and perhaps G
> codes without much more work. He has written a few posts describing his
> efforts and soliciting advice on what direction to take in his development.
> He has indicated that he might turn it into a commercial product when it
> achieves its final form, but the full scope of the program's functionality
> hasn't yet been specified (that's the nature of the advice I believe he was
> seeking).
> Suppose we could come up with enough incentive (probably in the form of
> money) to compensate the author for his work so far, and also to continue the
> development enough to get the program "up on its feet" in a form that's
> useful to those who provide the incentive. From my own standpoint there are a
> few drawbacks to this program, but they are probably not insurmountable.
> First, due to my interest in the EMC software, I'm not really concerned with
> the CNC part of the program except to the extent that algorithms or
> techniques in the code could be folded into the EMC code in order to improve
> it. Second, it needs to be translated to a multiplatform environment,
> probably Tcl/Tk (not Java, been there, done that, too slow). This would allow
> it to be combined with Dave's Tcl/Tk gui for the EMC at:
>
> http://users.nni.com/daveland/metal.htm
>
> and also the Tcl/Tk stuff Fred Proctor's been working on lately. This would
> give the EMC the "conversational programming" feature it needs as well as
> allow folks to program offline on Linux or Windows if they prefer to sit in
> the office. It might also be possible to pull in other resources such as the
> G code generating routines from Jon Elson, and code from the GnuCAD project.
> I don't know enough about software to be able to judge whether merging these
> projects and converting to Tcl/Tk is more or less economical than starting
> from scratch, but I think you can get an idea of what I have in mind. I know
> there are huge holes in what I've proposed, such as how to coordinate the
> efforts of multiple developers whose locations aren't the same, or who gets
> to approve of the spec, etc. I present this as an example of how a worthwhile
> goal might be attained. Well, it's 3:15am and I have veered WAY off the topic
> of "Little Activity" so I'll stop here.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt
>
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