Bricscad: .dwg Based CAD Software Available For Linux

Bricscad V10 stable for Linux was released some 2 weeks ago but we somehow missed the news. Well, better late then never... (thanks to Reddit).

Bricscad V10 for Linux was released earlier this month (the stable version) and is the first .dwg based CAD software available for Linux - according to its website, although VariCAD also has .dwg support (I'm not sure about the difference between "support" and "based" in this case though). Though Bricscad is not free (and closed source), this is still great news for all those who previously needed to use Windows just because they've needed an .dwg based CAD application.

Existing applications and customizations written for Windows-based Bricscad and/or AutoCAD using LISP, DCL and Diesel APIs can run on Bricscad V10 for Linux without modification.

Bricscad V10 for Linux currently supports Ubuntu 9.10+, Fedora 12+ and OpenSuse 11.1+. I've tested Bricscad on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx 32bit and it worked flawlessly: a (trial) Ubuntu .deb was provided (60mb) and after installing it, I was able to open the 2 CAD .dwg files I had on my computer. However, I didn't try to actually use it but I may give it a try later on. I'm not sure how AutoCAD looks nowadays, but Bricscad reminds me of the AutoCAD 2001 or 2002 I was using back in college.

For now, Bricscad is only available in English but support for other 15 languages is expected in the next few days.

The price ranges from 510,00 EUR and 360,00 EUR (these are the prices for my country - it may be different in yours), however there is a promo ongoing so you can get a discount for the Linux version if you get it now. The pricing is ridiculously low compared to Autocad (which costs $US4000).

You can try out Bricscad for free (30 days): Download Bricscard for Linux (includes .deb, .rpm and tar.gz files).