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Comment by declaredapple | Hacker News Reader

Oh I need to try that addon.

I've been meaning to look for a Fusion360 alternative that can run on linux and doesn't cost $$$$/yr.

There's also FreeCAD, which is getting better! Definitely worth trying the RealThunder fork [0] that handles some geometry better than the upstream branch, and is kept up to date.

It's still weird. That's for sure. But very much usable as a fusion360 replacement for simple to intermediate 3D printing work.

[0] https://github.com/realthunder/FreeCAD/releases

I try every FreeCAD release in hopes the UX and tool naming improves, but so far no dice. It’s almost amazingly obscure by design.

I really want to like it. I am well accustomed to dealing with quirky FOSS UIs. But it is so bad. Something that takes one click in Solidworks or Solid Edge takes ten, and at any point if there is an error, there is no feedback.

If it looked like FreeCAD was trying to improve the UI I think I'd be throwing some money their way to fund it. But it appears they're happy with the way it works, as these paper cuts have actually gotten worse over time.

It's just FreeCAD, not FOSS-CAD-as-a-whole. Kicad gets better and easier to use each release and I am well aware what a gift it is to engineering work.

Are you familiar with parametric modelling in general / from other software? Fusion360/NX/Onshape/Inventor etc? Cause while there are a bunch of UX issues big and small in FreeCAD, some of the complexity and learning curve does come with the territory.

I use Fusion360 (unwillingly) and Shapr3D, plus I learned Solidworks and used a _lot_ of 3D design (mesh) and parametric apps (like OnShape, Solvespace, etc.). It’s not the territory, it’s FreeCAD’s inscrutability by design—even Solvespace has a better workflow.

I need to give FreeCAD another try,

but last time I tried it I couldn't figure out how to do almost anything. Fusion 360 and solidworks (and I think onshape) all just "made sense". Throw down a sketch, extrude some surfaces, etc. FreeCAD was a struggle for me and I went back to fusion 360 mostly because I was already familiar with it.

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