I would like to request better Linux support for Sketchup.
I’m a paying user of Sketchup pro and at the moment I’m using it in a Virtual Machine (with Windows), which works but is not ideal, and hell to get and keep working. In the long term I fear using a VM is not feasible and I hope you can improve Sketchup to work on Linux.
Needing to run wine (or proton with Steam) emulation is acceptable for me, so supporting that instead of making a native version would also work. If modern games can run like this, it should also be possible with Sketchup.
(At my latest try this doesn’t work properly at the moment, and especially when you also use Layout, which I need)
I hope you can work on this in the future, because I enjoy using Sketchup a lot.
This is a feature request that comes up from time to time. Unfortunately from surveys that have been done over the years, there don’t seem to be enough Linux users like yourself who are willing to pay for a Pro subscription license to support the additional development and maintenance overhead that would require. The vast majority of respondents to those surveys expected the should get a Linux version for free. That dog just won’t hunt.
Who knows what might happen in the future but based on the past, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for it to happen.
Most Linux users aren’t fans of paying for software, that’s one of the reasons why they use Linux. There are other softwares that are free like blender or freecad that can run natively on Linux. Most professional that use sketchup are using windows or MacOS, there might be a few people like you willing to pay for the software to run natively on Linux but I don’t think they’ll cover the cost of developing the software for a new OS. Linux isn’t a good alternative for architects, most of the programs we use are only on windows or MacOS, and it’s hard to change to a new software like freecad after using Revit or Archicad for years, unfortunately in the university we are taught to use paid software, Autocad is still the industry standard and even if we don’t use autocad to design or make the construction documentation we must export it to autocad cause it’s the only software used by the entity that approves the construction in almost all the countries.
Things change. I’ll cast another vote for a Linux version. We’re paying for Graebert Ares (a German Autocad equivalent) specifically because they have a Linux version, and we’re paying for other Linux based software as well. We do primarily software development, and every tool we have runs in a Linux environment. It’s a major headache to have to run a separate Windows machine for Sketchup, so we’ll continue looking for other options. Earlier versions are known to run in Linux using Wine, but the 2023 version does not appear to work at the moment.
And it likely never will, as SketchUp 2023 migrated from the very old MFC framework to Qt.
The platforms that Qt supports does not list any VM emulation scenarios.
Re: Wine, perhaps it is proper to ask whether Wine supports Qt v5.15 ?
However the switch to the cross-platform Qt for SketchUp may lead … may in the future lead, … to a native compiled Linux edition. But for which Linux? (See the Qt supported Linux distributions at the above link.)
Windows and Mac will always come first in the support priorities. It is just how the world it is.
It says that supports Ubuntu which is the most known if not the most popular Linux distribution l, anyway I don’t think it would be something worthy for Trimble, on my experience, most Linux users aren’t willing to pay for a software that has free or open source alternative. I know 2 architects that use Linux but they use freecad, blender, Qcad among other softwares used in architecture like Inkscape, Gimp etc. Their workflow is based on those programs, they wouldn’t even give it a try to a paid software, even a low price software like sketchup pro. Maybe there are people that could pay for it but it won’t pay the costs of development and support of another platform.
Qt is also the base of the KDE Desktop environment (for Linux) and I would think it should be able to run on almost all mayor Linux distros without problem. So this switch is already a big step in making a future Linux version possible. As there is already an Apple version (which is a Unix) I think it shouldn’t be that difficult to make a native Linux version. Though I understand there may not be enough customer demand yet, things like switching to cross-platform Qt is already a mayor step in the right direction.
If a version would be developed targeting for example Ubuntu, most administrators would be able to run in on the other distros as well.
I understand this change won’t happen soon. But I think the world is changing and more people are moving to Linux, including people willing to pay for Sketchup. And if we don’t ask it will never happen for sure!
I’ve got Sketch Up running on Linux…it only took a virtual machine, windows, a second graphics card, a keyboard screen switcher… but it can be done. Not sure how else you can do it as if Sketch Up doesn’t see a graphics card it won’t install. And using Wine I couldn’t install it. You have to go all the way to graphics passthrough to get it to function as far as i can see.
Perhaps I am an anomaly, but, I am fine to pay for my software. I pay for all of my other tools. Why I use Linux is 1: because I am more familiar with PC than Mac and 2: I buy good tools which work fine for many years, my operating system should as well. I don’t need to constantly update my other work tools(granted my other tools have been in use for decade longer than either of the big 3 OSs, so the big value added engineering segments are pretty much done). Also, although writing code is infinitely more involved than casting a hammer or injection molding a hand drill case, the business model is incomparable. Most tool manufacturers build tools to last. Mac and Linux do. The other,…not so much. That’s the reality of it. When I turn on one of my Linux computers, they just work. Correctly. And I can leave them on for months with no degrading of abilities or fragmentation or…? And they don’t expect me to bind myself or my company or my firstborn to them so they can keep and increase their market share. I know quite a few Linux users that are fine to purchase Linux based software, as we already do. The fact that I have to dual boot to Win 10 to use Sketch-up Pro is sketchy to me. So, I buy a new laptop and desktop and deal with the 3rd option JUST to use Sketch-up. And every time I boot to that OS, I wonder if it all will work and that my virus-ware is active. Computers were suppose to make our lives better, easier, more manageable to an extent, that is true, but more stressful also? That is why many users move to Linux sir.
