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Linux for CAD?

Geoff Harrod

Linux is just another of many variant versions of Unix. The big difference, that is making it such a hot topic, is that it is made available either free or very cheaply. 

Previously, Unix had always been quite costly and often required yearly license fees.

Linux (which should be pronounced with a short ‘i’ because of its European origin) was created by Finnish developer Linus Torvalds, who released it in the public domain on the condition that it remain open and free. Linux is actually the result of a collaborative project comprising many components created by many individuals and teams of programmers.

You can download the Linux source code for free. But you can also buy commercial distribution versions from several sources. These companies (Red Hat, Suse, Debian, Caldera, Corel, etc.) have created distribution bundles of Linux components and Linux software applications, added self-installing and other user-friendly features, and are generally a far more satisfactory solution for commercial use. The free version is strictly for the hacker-guru types. However, some of these commercial versions are often offered free for download or on magazine cover CDs. You get more extensive documentation, additional support programs or applications and a support service with a bought version. For details of available versions of Linux and options see below.

Some commercial software producers, especially those who feel threatened by the perception of monopoly powers by Microsoft, are offering versions of Linux and versions of their products to run on it, as well as continuing to develop for Windows. For example, Corel has released Corel Linux and a Linux version of their WordPerfect Suite. Some top PC hardware makers are now offering models pre-installed with Linux instead of Windows, notably IBM, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. These are so far mainly designed for the network or internet server market.

In the CAD arena, several established software makers are already offering Linux versions, and others have announced that they are under consideration or development. They include Pro/Engineer and SolidWorks. SolidWorks have also ported Macsyma maths software and a 3D Java viewer to Linux. Spatial Technology, developer of the widely used ACIS solid-modeling kernel, has announced a release of the kernel written for Linux, which will facilitate several CAD systems moving onto Linux. Bentley has a Linux version of MicroStation under development.

The free basis of Linux is also prompting quite a change in software distribution methods. Sun Microsystems bought out a German company that had developed an ‘office suite’ for Linux, called StarOffice, and now offers it as a free download. This suite, which essentially duplicates the functionality of Microsoft Office, although with differing operational techniques, is also offered for Windows 95/98/NT, OS/2, and Sun's Solaris-Unix.

Linux is already widely used as network server software, mostly because of its reliability, stability, and of course, low cost. It is also very widely used for Internet Web Servers. In fact, although Microsoft had been boasting of the success of their Web server software on NT, more new servers are using Linux than anything else. Before the NT web server software, most web servers had been running on Sun Sparcstations with Unix.

Windows NT's increasingly widespread use has greatly reduced Unix sales. The main reason has been the much lower cost of top-end PCs compared to limited-production RISC based Unix graphic workstations. This became possible only when the Intel chips reached the Pentium-III stage, new PC main-board designs adopted the PCI and AGP buses, and Windows NT could handle the large memory sizes and advanced graphics boards that had given Unix workstations their niche.

But although the move from Unix to NT has been remarkably quick in the high-end CAD market, it is becoming clear that NT is not so robust and extensible as Unix, and no less complex to maintain either. A major factor in the migration had been not only the much lower cost of the hardware, but the excessive cost and on-going license cost that has been a feature of proprietary Unix. Now that Linux is offering the same functionality and stability at even less cost than NT, the situation needs re-appraisal.

There is some anxiety among technical administrators of large NT networks about Microsoft's replacement of Windows-NT4 by Windows-2000. Windows version replacements have usually been characterized by dramatic differences, big re-learning and major re-implementation problems. The comments by those who have studied the Betas of Windows-2000 suggests that it will present major transition problems from Windows NT or 98, and is still unlikely to match the robustness and reliability of Unix, including Linux. The thought that is spreading is will it be no more difficult to switch over to Linux instead?

Those a bit lower down the CAD system-demands ladder who have never had anything to do with Unix, would not be likely to consider Unix except for two new facts: There is now much more overlap (Unix can now run well on PCs), and secondly, they worry about anticipated problems of migration to Windows 2000. There is also a rising level of concern in over-dependence on Microsoft software.

As things are at the moment, Linux is still too much of a technical expertise issue to quickly replace Windows in small offices and homes. But where there is a systems administrator and a server-based network, it offers a very attractive option.

The huge choice of existing Windows application programs will not run directly on Linux. But unlike hobbyists, office users generally use only a limited selection of applications, and there are already enough Linux application programs available to address all common office needs. It is possible to run standard Windows programs on Linux with the aid of a system add-on that emulates the Windows program-running environment. But any such emulator is not a good idea for one’s regularly used main software.

For design offices, emulators are not relevant anyway. As long as their chosen design software has a Linux version, and there is good basic office software for Linux they are not needed. There seems little doubt that most CAD and design software will soon be available in native Linux form.

The Graphic User Interface is a separate entity in Linux, and there is more than one option. They, like the long established GUIs on Unix (older than Windows), don’t ‘look and feel’ the same as Windows (or Mac) but behave in essentially the same way. The difference is no more than that between Windows 3.1 and 95, or between Windows and Macintosh.

If this trend does continue, I wonder how that places the companies that moved to throw in their lot 100% with Microsoft a short time ago – notably Autodesk and Visio. Autodesk dropped all but Windows support in order to maximize compatibility with Windows’ own inter-process and support features. That is now starting to look like part of Microsoft’s monopoly acquiring tactics, as in most cases there are other, often better, inter-task mechanisms that are more universal. OLE in particular has not proved altogether satisfactory.

This is a trend we all need to keep watching, especially when it comes time to think about upgrading or changing operating system version.

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