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Historically, Linux has not had many CAD offerings. Now 3D Slash has stepped in to fill the void, and it even works well on a Raspberry Pi.
Lead Image © Lyudmyla Kharlamova, 123RF.com
Historically, Linux has not had many CAD offerings. Now 3D Slash has stepped in to fill the void, and it even works well on a Raspberry Pi.
For a long time, computer-aided design (CAD) was the domain of powerful and expensive workstations. This state of affairs has changed considerably in the last few years. More and more CAD software is becoming available for standard PCs or as a web application. The French firm 3D Slash offers a program by the same name in several versions, including one for Linux. The company promises that the Linux version works without problem on the Rasp Pi. A trimmed down version with basic functionality starts directly from the web browser.
In this article, I look closely at the functionality and performance of 3D Slash [1] running on a Raspberry Pi 2 (RPi 2) outfitted with the current Raspbian "jessie" operating system. I also compare the 3D Slash to Tinkercad [2], the predominant CAD software offered by Autodesk, Inc.
A user can gather first impressions of 3D Slash (Figure 1) by taking it for a spin on the provider's website. A trial run requires only that the user's system and web browser support WebGL.
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Pages: 4
Price $15.99
(incl. VAT)