Request for Linux?

Hi I’m Dave,
I’ve been a licensed Sketchup user for years. I use it anytime I need to draw something.
I’ve been using CAD/CAM products since the early 286 AutoCad days and on RISC using Pro-E, Medusa, Bravo Draft and many others.
I find that Sketchup is by far one of the fastest and easiest ways to convey ideas that I’ve come across over the years, and what a long strange trip it’s been.
The evolution of products has been remarkable as has the advancements in hardware and the reduction of their costs.
With these evolutionary changes I find myself at a cross roads. With the continually improvements in the Linux world I started two years ago to ween myself off Windows to the point where one copy of Windows runs as a VM.
Its becoming harder everyday to justify the cost and hassle of perpetuating Windows as a desktop when Linux has done such a fantastic job providing all necessary functionality at no cost and in making desktop computing fun again by allowing the end user additional autonomy.
Sketchup in my world is the last vestige of Windows and the only reason why I have a copy of Windows spun up.
I see Sketchup runs on Mac, which is a close relative to Linux. I know many have ask for a Linux port of Sketchup and I would like to add my name to the request hat.

Much thanks.

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Also considering SketchUp’s aims for the Maker movement, which largely consists of people sharing open values and of among which that platform is quite common. SketchUp’s very own STL extension sees frequently usage/activity on github by users of that platform.

I’m sure you have found plenty of discussions/opinions/likeliness in the forum about the topic. Let’s let this be a decision solely of the SketchUp team and not of any grudgers in the community.

Linux would need to support some kind of stable License Management utility.
Perhaps with the latest switch (SketchUp 2015) to LM by the Trimble Cloud server, this is now more feasible?

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OK Distro question time.
My preference would be SUSE Linux or OpenSUSE v11 or higher.

What would others prefer ?

I request a SketchUp viewer for Linux (Ubuntu)
Would also really like to have a Linux port of the SketchUp application!

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As the title says.

Carlos

A frequently asked question, but Trimble never reveals their product plans ahead of release…

As a roboticist and a researcher, I lay witness to a large market share left on the table. People who use open source operating systems out of necessity have been hunting for powerful and intuitive 3D design software for a long time. I think we all know the importance of being first to enter a market, and how getting a late start can be detrimental in the long term. I really enjoy using SketchUp, but I hope the devs will provide a native solution before some other competitor does, as tools such as wine only go so far.

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If you give us a Linux version it should be generic so everyone who knows Linux can install from scratch. Otherwise you are going to have at least 3 versions. Red hat, Debian or Slackware . Almost all versions of Linux is based on one of these three. I think all others are built from scratch in one form or another.

And there will be at least three people that don’t want it to be generic (as a bunch of tar-zipped files), but intuitive to install via a one-click installer and with shiny icon etc.

That means one cannot generically target “Linux” (which is a kernel used in tiny things, mobiles, etc., servers, big clouds), but one has at least to decide for a package format or one specific reference desktop operating system.

As an example, Valve also lists only one reference (linux based) operating system. This serves already the vast majority of the market, but they are open enough to allow from-scratchers to adopt the package to there system of choice, via various wiki instructions.

Just recently Valve has started to promote of all things Blender in their developer tools market. Not sure what their plans are. On the other side, SketchUp has managed to survive with strong competitors next door, even without being perfect.

Autocad on a 286? Had to use the old math co-processor eh?.. been there.

Yea along with autoexec.bat, config.sys and ini file stuff.
.

Market share is the issue. I wonder when the 27% still on XP and the 58% on 7 decide what OS is next will they move to Windows 10 or go elsewhere?
It will be interesting to see if the typical computer user even stays with Windows or due to tablets and Android move in that direction. Most folks don’t need Windows they just don’t know it. It will also be interesting to see how the business community receives Windows 10, hopefully it won’t be déjà vu all over again.
After supporting Microsoft since the beginning … early DOS, the thing I find most refreshing about Linux over other desktop OS’s is the many choices you have in look and operation instead of assuming the one size fits all approach of Windows. But I’m with you, openSUSE and Xubuntu my two favorites

Pssst, he really loves Linux! :grin: [and tracks every poster]

[offtopic…] Hm, isn't it time to speak clear words? Nobody has questioned or denied you your tools, nor expressed superiority or refused understanding of others people's choices. But as a frequent forum member I would care when posts don't improve the discussion(s), topics don't matter/concern to posters, arguments are more dismissive than positively convincing, or statements are more influential than objective. I hope this is not the case, and we can keep it like that.

I’d be very interested in a linux version of sketchup.

Yes! I would welcome a Linux port of SketchUp - specifically for Ubuntu 14.04 (64 bit).

As an FYI:

Check out our Knowledge Center article about this here.

A Linux version of SketchUp isn’t available at this time. However, you may be interested to see how others have had success running SketchUp on Linux using Wine.

Also thanks to @catamountain for some information on her website here.

Thanks Alex, but the real credit for the Linux Sage page goes to @Aerilius as he’s the Linux guru around here. I figured he was tired of rewriting the same stuff over and over again and thought this topic deserved a home.

My preference would be for an Opensuse rpm, but if it will run on Opensuse, I don’t care how you do it. Seems strange to me that Google would pick up Linux for Android and then fail to implement that expertise in other Linux distros.