Bricscad Under Ubuntu

Bricscad V6 will run under Ubuntu even though there is not an install for it. So what is Bricscad? Bricscad is an Autocad clone for lack of a better word. It uses native Autocad files, and the command structure is very similar to Autocad. The differences are primarily cost, and the fact that it will run under Linux. To run under Ubuntu, I downloaded the TGZ file for Fedora and Redhat, uncompressed it and copied the Bricscad folder to the /OPT folder. Executing the Bricscad V6 script loads Brickscad in Wine. At this point it will ask for a serial number. If you are installing the demo version, this can be a problem. Presumably, if installed under Fedora or Redhat, the installer automatically enters a serial number for you. When installed manually like I did, you need to manually enter a number. Thankfully, the nice people at Bricscad provided me with a temporary demo number that I could enter for thirty days of trial. So far it looks promising. This is probably the best CAD solution for Linux at this time. V6 offers compatibility with Autocad 2004. It does require Wine, but the people at Bricscad tell me that they are working on a native version to be released in Summer that will run under Linux. The PC version of V8 is available now and is pretty amazing. Admittedly though, I'm not very fluent at Autocad so I'm not a great judge of the operational differences. Definitely worth checking out.