In this article I will present you a few list of CAD software which can be easily installed on your Ubuntu 18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish or Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver system.
LibreCAD:
LibreCAD is an open-source, multi-platform, free 2D CAD software available for the most popular desktop platforms: Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. It is available in over 20 languages, has support for DWG files, it is capable of writing DXF files and has support for exporting SVG, JPG, PNG, PDF files, among others.
Also, it has layers, blocks, splines, polylines, ellipse tools, advanced tangent line & circle tools, transformation tools, an advanced snapping system and more. Because LibreCAD focuses on 2D geometry it is fast and lightweight, with an installer of less than 30mb.
To install librecad on your system, you need to refresh the local repository index and install the librecad package:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install librecad
For more information about librecad, follow the librecad article series (the article on top is the newest).
FreeCAD:
FreeCAD is an open source CAx RAD, developed in OpenCasCade, Qt and Python. Among others, it has support for macro recording, creating workbenches and has the ability to run as a both a server and a dynamically loaded application. The users can import and manage the following CAD models: IGES, STEP and BRep and the following meshes: STL, BMS, AST and Wavefront OBJ formats.
To install freecad on your system, you need to refresh the local repository index and install the freecad package:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install freecad
For more information about FreeCAD, follow the freecad article series (the article on top is the newest).
QCAD:
QCAD is an open source 2D CAD (computer aided drafting) application that helps the users create technical drawings. Being multi-platform, it works on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.
There is an open-source version for the community and a paid version, which can be bought from here. The version from the PPA comes with the addon disabled by default.
To install qcad on your system, you need to refresh the local repository index and install the qcad package:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install qcad
For more information about qCAD, follow the qcad article series (the article on top is the newest).
BRL-CAD:
BRL-CAD is an open-source, cross-platform solid modeling system that has high-performance ray-tracing for rendering and geometric analysis, it includes interactive geometry editing, image and signal-processing tools, a system performance analysis benchmark suite and libraries for robust geometric representation.
The latest version of BRL-CAD is available as deb packages via sourceforge, so installing in on Ubuntu 18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish, Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver and derivative systems is easy.
You need to download the package matching your architecture and to install it via the default package manager. I prefer gdebi because it also handles dependencies.
How to install BRL-CAD on 32 bit Ubuntu systems:
$ wget "sourceforge.net/projects/brlcad/files/BRL-CAD for Linux/7.28.0/brlcad_7.28.0-0_i386.deb"
$ sudo apt-get install gdebi
$ sudo gdebi brlcad*.deb
How to install BRL-CAD on 64 bit Ubuntu systems:
$ wget "sourceforge.net/projects/brlcad/files/BRL-CAD for Linux/7.28.0/brlcad_7.28.0-0_amd64.deb"
$ sudo apt-get install gdebi
$ sudo gdebi brlcad*.deb
For more information about BRL CAD, follow the brlcad article series (the article on the top is the newest).
OpenSCAD:
OpenSCAD is an open-source CAD application for creating solid 3D models. While it does not behave as an interactive modeller, the software reads a script file that describes the object and renders the 3D model from the script.
Due to the fact that OpenSCAD is not available via any PPA for Ubuntu 18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish, you need to download the openscad package and to install it via the package manager. I prefer gdebi over dpkg due to the fact that it also handles dependencies. Follow the instructions matching your operating system exactly.
Instructions for 32 bit Ubuntu systems:
$ sudo apt-get install gdebi-core
$ wget ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/o/openscad/openscad-testing_2015.03-2+dfsg-2+b4_i386.deb
$ sudo gdebi openscad*.deb
Instructions for 64 bit Ubuntu systems:
$ sudo apt-get install gdebi-core
$ wget ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/o/openscad/openscad-testing_2015.03-2+dfsg-2+b4_amd64.deb
$ sudo gdebi openscad*.deb
For more information about Openscad, follow the openscad article series (the article on the top is the newest).
SolveSpace:
SolveSpace is an open-source parametric 2d/3d CAD program, including the following components:
- modeling 3d parts — draw with extrudes, revolves, and Boolean (union / difference) operations;
- modeling 2d parts — draw the part as a single section, and export DXF, PDF, SVG; use 3d assembly to verify fit;
- 3d-printed parts — export the STL or other triangle mesh expected by most 3d printers;
- preparing CAM data — export 2d vector art for a waterjet machine or laser cutter; or generate STEP or STL, for import into third-party CAM software for machining;
- mechanism design — use the constraint solver to simulate planar or spatial linkages, with pin, ball, or slide joints;
- plane and solid geometry — replace hand-solved trigonometry and spreadsheets with a live dimensioned drawing.
To install solvespace on your system, you need to refresh the local repository index and install the solvespace package:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install solvespace
For more information about SolveSpace, follow the solvespace article series (the article on the top is the newest).
LeoCAD:
LeoCAD is a free, open-source, cross platform CAD software that permits you to create new models by using Lego bricks.
Among others, it is easy to use, has an intuitive interface and has many features that enables everybody to build CAD models. It is fully compatible with LDraw and has almost 10,000 different parts and continues to receive updates.
To install leocad on your system, you need to refresh the local repository index and install the leocad package:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install leocad
For more information about LeoCAD, follow the leocad article series (the article on the top is the newest).
