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316 points pabs3 | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.408s | source
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loufe ◴[] No.42171647[source]
Every time I have a personal project and want to make a simple CAD drawing of a building or a simple model, as I would using AutoCAD at work, I go through the same song and dance. I look around at the options online, my jaw hangs open at the cost of any commercial CAD subscription/licence, then I get frustrated by a glaring lack of functionality or useability while trying some free/open source solution, and resort to a 30 day trial or MSPaint/paper.

Some of the comments already mention how blender's existence is predicated upon it filling a niche in certain senses, instead of trying to achieve feature parity with an entrenched giant. That makes sense, and it's unfortunate, as this space could use an open source option with Blender's polish. In my own industry, mining, I am certain some commercial interests would happily make their product an extension/plugin for a polished FreeCAD (or other), were it at that point.

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jitl ◴[] No.42172002[source]
Have you tried OnShape? It’s not open source but it is totally free for hobby use.
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encom ◴[] No.42173185[source]
I hate it because it's a website. I want actual software. Free software ideally.
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1. klysm ◴[] No.42173247[source]
I understand the gripes with web-based platforms, but its performance is pretty impressive. They've done a good job with it.
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2. inhumantsar ◴[] No.42173929[source]
same here. if I want to slap together a quick model or sketch, it takes seconds in onshape vs minutes in f360.

I've even loaded projects into my phone's browser while out to view sketches or assemblies.