Here’s a tough one for you:
An alternative to AutoDesk Fusion360 for 3D print modeling.
Ideally with native Linux support but I’m more concerned with getting out from under AutoDesk’s thumb than I am with using wine.
Blender seems like the obvious choice, but it’s not really built for 3d printing.
It’s looking like FreeCAD may be about as good as it gets unless someone here has some other suggestions.
FreeCAD is basically the only decent FOSS, but if you want to swap autocad for somebody else you can try onshape, it’s browser based so works well on all platforms.
I have regrettably moved to Onshape as well. Closest to fusion and free as long as you’re just making things for your own use. OpenSCAD is powerful, but I can’t get past the learning curve. Wish I could use it though. One day, maybe.
I use OpenSCAD for some gears etc, but onshape for the rest. I used FreeCAD for work a few years ago as we were stuck on Linux, I can wield it well, but it’s a bit clunky and would crash often on things like threads.
Onshape just works for the home hobbyist. I wish FreeCAD was a bit better, but I understand it’s a lot of work, just the creature comforts of fusion and onshape are hard to give back up.
Price you pay…
Honestly I could live with paying.
It’s the subscription model that makes me want to vomit 🤮
It’s free for hobbyist and have your models open…
(onshape)
I would gladly pay $299 once for security updates only and unlimited support, no feature updates. I just don’t want to pay $299 every twelve months.
I wish I could wrap my head around openSCAD. I have seen what it can do, I just can’t think in those dimensions when I’m drafting something.
Yeah it’s more primitive, I don’t see it as a full cad drafting replacement, but as mentioned, it’s nice for things like gears and classic parameter based models.