Archicad for Linux

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I think the linux market share will grow in 2005.
I usually work with OpenOffice 1.9, Mozzila, Gaim, Skype, Oracle 10g, GIMP 2.1, Blender, Dia, ArcGIS 9.0 software that run on windows and linux,
I would like to work with a version of Archicad for linux,

Now we only have Building Information Modeling (BIM) software in linux:
- ARCAD 90, from www.arcad.de - only in german i think
- BricsCad, (brings DWG to the LINUX community) beta version, from www.bricscad.com
and a old 2D Software - Microstation 95 for Linux
Does anybody know if there will be a linux version of archicad in 2005?

thanks,
Bernardino

[Anonymous]

I managed to run AC 9 within linux with newest wine version.
It goes smoothly!

(with little toolbar problem I fixed with remove spacers.)

(Adobe Photoshop CS2 works too!)

[stefan]

nikoola wrote:
I managed to run AC 9 within linux with newest wine version.
It goes smoothly!

(with little toolbar problem I fixed with remove spacers.)

(Adobe Photoshop CS2 works too!)

Can you elaborate: did you have to modify anything? Specific settings in Wine? Was there a problem to communicate with the hardware dongle?

Screenshots?

Old thread, but nice to at least see someone who had success.

[Anonymous]

I'm using SUSE and Ubuntu 8.04 right now, and I'll probably try VMWare-ing (sorta/similar to like Wine) my current OS to run it in a virtual machine as a guest OS inside my SUSE or Ubuntu. I think it will run fine, with the exception of the 3d window- which undoubtably will be significantly slower, even with a x9xx GeForce card.

That way, it is irrelevant if an app like AC uses windows API's. No need for direct BSD or any linux code for AC anymore- within a year the coders will have ironed out the 3d issues with FPS and speed I imagine... this time 2009 will see virtualization THE SOLUTION to less than premium OS's of the past, without the need for end users to upgrade or change their old software if they don't want to.

By the way, so far everything runs quite fast, as a ghost OS within Ubutu or SUSE. Everything but the 3d...(grrrr).... But Ubuntu is FREE so no more license issues or paying a firm that tried to pass Vista on it's customer base and developers. For that alone I hope MS sinks with concrete shoes on.

[Anonymous]

P.S. for those of you who are interested OR just curious, you can...

1) DL Ubuntu 8.04 and install it on your current HD without any issues (if you don't assign it real HD space it will run virtualised itself and be quite slow).
2) DL "VM Player" or I think VMWare demo and make an image of your current OS and apps and save it.
3) Boot into Ubuntu (if you're not familiar with the process of installing apps in linux based OS's this isn't as simple as it seems -totally different process from windows, simpler in some ways but more to it than simply clicking a *.exe!) and start up your VMplayer
4) Browse to your OS image and load it
5) Open AC and see how it works for ya running on a ghost OS within Linux-based OS.

I've used other apps this way and they work fine. There is a lot of support for Ubuntu out there- just check the site and support forums.

[Anonymous]

I've been using VMware on my Mac to run Windows and find I generally prefer it to booting native. I imagine it would be similar in Linux.

Perhaps I could boot my Mac in Linux to run Windows in a VM. Now wouldn't that be something.

[Anonymous]

I've been using my winXP as an image for some time now (maybe this is the way to run windows for the future more and more!) on my SUSE partition. I find it's a simpler solution than system restore: when something goes awry, I simple return to a snapshot or the original image file. I stopped trying 3d apps some time ago simply as the performance was lacking, but for everything else it's fine or even better than native windows booting, IMHO.
I've read about that one can virtualize any OS, esp running VMware or similar from a BSD distro. I've not tried OSX or anything yet (I only have AC for x86, so it would just be for fun).

I'm going to try out my AC10 in VMWare player within a few days, on SUSE v11.0 64bit running winXPsp2 32bit image. If it runs well in 3d, I'll probably never go back to windows native booting.

The more I delve into linux, the more I wish I'd bought more of my software for the mac platform. Even the GUI is more stable (Gnome 2 or simply fluxbox)...

But back on topic, maybe developing a NEW version of AC simply for linux won't be necessary at all- BSD distros are becoming so simple and easy to use, and so capable of even virtualizing software written for other OS's, that with all the cost (but how many people would it really take, after an initial consultation and assessment of removing windows API's that might be in use and if so, changing some code for those parts of the app- one good linux programmer and some testers might be all that is necessary)....it might simply make more sense to wait a bit longer and then offer patches or support within the linux community for virtual tools.

Probably the biggest issue will be the usual ones -windows isn't a very effective platform compared to Linux or even OSX. But it's of course far more common. For now.

[stefan]

I have not tried ArchiCAD yet, but AutoCAD 2007 (using network license) ran reasonably within VMWare with Windows XP, within Ubuntu 7.10 (or 04) 64-bit. But 3D support is certainly a bottleneck and ArchiCAD relies heavily on good OpenGL support, esp. for the 3D Window.

If 3D graphics will become fully supported in virtualized systems, then things will be different. But that is not the case right now, IIRC.

[Anonymous]

The license thing is a pain- same with the windows licensing.
There is a workaround for windows (MS considers running your windows version to be running a 2nd copy, and needing a second license. You have to call in every time you start your virtual machine, to wait 10 minutes for the help desk, talk to them and convince them it's still your computer, get a serial to re-activate your windows, then when you EXIT the Virtual machine, your native copy needs to be re-registered/activated... in a vicious cycle of never ending idiocy- unless you copy your registration/activation data and write a special script- amazing! Check this link to get an idea or learn how to bypass faulty coders lack of logic: http://mazimi.wordpress.com/2007/07/11/getting-around-windows-activation-when-virtualizing/
...)

So I haven't tried out AC licensing yet, but if I make a virtual machine based on my current config and OS... I sure hope the AC coders are savy to how illogical MS does their activation. I know it's difficult to find secure ways to protect one's time with software investment, but MS's "solution" is plain silly- and so simple to bypass the activation! Horrible method.

I have AC10 and Acad 2009 installed currently and on an image but I haven't tried the VMware beta with the 3d support fully yet on my linux/openBSD distros- no time yet. I will post when I try it out, for sure- it's the #1 project for my next software test. I know that openGL is going to be an issue though....But with a really fast GPU, CPU, and extra RAM, hopefully it will speed things up to the point of work-ability in the 3d window as that's my main love.

I'm still learning about a lot of stuff, but after Vista, I even had real nightmares of '98 all over again and endless BSOD's and crashes... Getting off windows for good, even XP, would really be nice- just running virtual machines for those apps that must have MS code.

I think I wrote too much again. LOL!

[Anonymous]

JP-Design wrote:
The license thing is a pain- same with the windows licensing.

With VMware Fusion (the Mac product) they have VWware Tools that takes care of the Windows licensing problem without having to muck with MS. I don't know about the other VMs.

Autodesk licensing is another matter altogether. If you install their licenses on a native boot partition with Boot Camp on the Mac and then run that as a VM then they will ask you to reauthorize the software every time you switch, and after a few times you have to call Autodesk, and if it goes on too long they say they will revoke your license. I don't know if there is a similar problem with Linux but I suspect there might be since the Mac is Unix and the problem is with the different ways they manage the system clock. But be very careful because Autodesk is not shy about taking away what you have laid out (lots of) good money for just because they think you might be cheating.

So I haven't tried out AC licensing yet, but if I make a virtual machine based on my current config and OS... I sure hope the AC coders are savy to how illogical MS does their activation. I know it's difficult to find secure ways to protect one's time with software investment, but MS's "solution" is plain silly- and so simple to bypass the activation! Horrible method.

The ArchiCAD license is simple. If you have the key you have the license. I have come to love the hardware key after the license problems I have seen with other software.

I have AC10 and Acad 2009 installed currently and on an image but I haven't tried the VMware beta with the 3d support fully yet on my linux/openBSD distros- no time yet. I will post when I try it out, for sure- it's the #1 project for my next software test. I know that openGL is going to be an issue though....But with a really fast GPU, CPU, and extra RAM, hopefully it will speed things up to the point of work-ability in the 3d window as that's my main love.

I'll be curious to know what you find. I've been running AutoCAD. Revit and Navis in VM with good performance. I can't check them against native performance due to the licensing problems, but my tests with AC11 showed surprisingly little difference. AC12 would probably be another matter since the VM only supports 2 processors max.

[Anonymous]

Yes.Archicad 4 linux is very important.