Replacing AutoCAD in Ubuntu

One of the task I had set on my self to do was to replace AutoCAD with a program that would run on Linux. After alot of searching I found one. It's called DraftSight (http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/overview/).

DraftSight is using the same engine as the AutoCAD alternative in Windows IntelliCad (http://www.intellicad.org/).

The only problem with DraftSight is that running the .deb file by itself is not installing it properly because there are some files missing that DraftSight is not installing by default. Those files can be installed as follows:

1) Open a Terminal window and type in:
sudo apt-get install libdirectfb-extra libxcb-render-util0

2) Install the .deb package using the force option. In this example we assume that the file is located in the Dowloads folder:
sudo dpkg --force-architecture -i ~/Downloads/draftSight.deb


And that's it. Draftsight is a very good AutoCAD replacement. And if you have been working with AutoCAD from the first days of its production (like I did, wow do I feel old now) you will be just fine because it even uses the same key commands as AutoCAD.

So go ahead. Give it a try. It's great!