The Triumphs And Downfalls Of CAD Freeware
Love it or hate it CAD freeware is here to stay. Some say it brings a great deal of needed support while others say it leads unknowing newcomers astray. There really is no direct answer to whether or not the drafting community would be better off with or without CAD freeware. In reality like everything else there is good CAD freeware and bad CAD freeware if the community can help newcomers decipher between the two, the answer to whether or not it would be better with it would be a unanimous yes. CAD freeware has always been a hot topic of debate, with ups and downs it can be a good or bad thing really.
The most legitimate freeware has always been the open source material. Open source CAD freeware displays most of the good characteristics and very few or none of the bad. The main reason a lot of people are turned away from CAD software is the extravagant prices that are charged for even the simplest of programs. CAD freeware has solved this problem by eliminating those prices which would often times be in the thousands. The other great advantaged to open source CAD freeware is the code is open to anyone to edit and this allows for the product to be developed just as fast as any of the CAD programs being developed by private business. CAD freeware has a lot to offer to the industry and makes drafting accessible to everyone.
The problem with CAD freeware however, is that it does a lot of harm to the industry too. All too often an unsuspecting newcomer will download one of the various CAD freeware programs and instantly be turned of from drafting. This isn’t because they don’t enjoy it or think it’s fun but they have inadvertently downloaded a terrible tool that makes drafting a pain in the back. It’s this huge hit or miss aspect of quality that makes freeware a great burden. Since people who are new to drafting don’t know what is good and what isn’t and there really is no standard’s for something that is being offered for free, people will get the idea that all drafting is as hard as it is with a bad CAD program. The other major problem with CAD freeware is the ability to pick up bad adware and spyware. All too often these programs are free because they are bundled with shady lines of code that spy on the users and send their information back. It’s this ability to produce CAD freeware without having any real repercussions that causes it to harm the industry as a whole by giving the end user a bad experience.
CAD freeware can be a great benefit to both the industry and the end users. Without CAD freeware the drafting community wouldn’t be as large as it is today and it certainly wouldn’t be as accessible or cheap. There have been a lot of good things that CAD freeware has done and ultimately they outweigh the bad. Poorly written CAD freeware and even that which has been bundled with shady code has done a lot of harm and turned away a lot of users. It’s a sad reality that almost any software market is going to have at least a few bad eggs. In the end CAD freeware is ultimately good and the only way to combat the bad is by informing those who do not know.
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