In my effort to rid my life of the Windoze operating system I have, until recently, not been able to unload dependency on AutoCAD and the perpetual beta testing that I paid to complete for them. Obvious problem is that most places use AutoCAD ...
In comes DraftSight. I have only started to check this out, but as an AutoCAD clone it has great promise. The layout seems to mimic like a mid 2000's version of the program. It is "z" aware with the ability, as it seems, to modify 3D primitive objects. It also recognizes the z-aware feature produced in civil 3D and LandDesktop. These features are notoriously problematic in any AutoCAD clone type program.
As I said above, I have not put the program through its paces yet, but look forward to getting into it. Keep tuned to see if I provide any useful information.
Another positive of the software is it is free and cross-platform. This is quickly becoming important for any vendor as many agencies are moving away from M$. See this article about Ernie Ball. Makes you think, are you safe? Will the M$ gestapo break in and shut you down? Yet there is always some loophole in the EULA that really screws you up, have you ever read one? ... Riveting.
Besides, Windoze reserves the right to remove your "borrowed" software at anytime. Thanks, but no thanks.
