Solidworks CAD + CAM should completely fulfill our current needs and features as far as the HAAS is concerned.
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Why are they doing this? This is like draconian level stuff. Is the leadership desperate to make the quarter look good, they think they may get a small bump in income? By taking away the tools people need on short notice to force them to subscribe. Only 2 week notice?
crippling license changes thread on reddit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fusion360/comments/iu0njm/crippling_license_changes_coming_1st_october/
The theory from the people who used the free version was that we were all beta testers for the paid version and once they had the kinks worked out they would probably just stop offering it for free. The writing has been on the wall for a while, I seem to remember some people up at DMS talking about it being discontinued in some form or another in late 2019.
I think they are in for a rude awakening.
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I feel like a fool, @David_A_Tucker tried to get me to learn Solidworks, but I instead focused on Fusion 360 because it was free and had so many features, spent a lot of time to learn the software.
from reddit:
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It wasn’t wasted time. I expect that most Fusion features have Solidworks equivalents, and vice versa.
It should be pretty easy to make the switch. You just have to learn the new function names and button locations.
DT
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@procterc is working on getting the Post-Processor for the HAAS going. He was working a bit on it tonight. He has been trying to find a Post Processor that works for a few months.
Until you get to the bigger cad packages most of the smaller softwares all work functionally the same. Most of the function names are even the same, you just have to figure out where they are. Having used half a dozen cad packages, I can say the hardest part of your project is not learning the software, it’s figuring out what you want to design.
I’ve got your “cad package” right here:
https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/solidworks-2020-licenses-for-dallas-makerspace/53371
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Question: How much money will they lose if Free Users quit using it?
From a business perspective, and they are l business, it makes sense. I would also imagine that the cost of incremental improvements/features in very complex software gets more expensive exponetially. And Fusion has come a long way functionally.
Yes, it sucks it’s not Free, we’ve become addicted to free. I personally hate subscription models, unless it is something I use a lot (like power users) and want all new features as they evovle.
Generally, if a stand alone has what I want I’ll buy it because I figure my skills/needs aren’t going to outgrow it (hobbist). But that model is going away. 
I expect the satan capitalist in me greedily expects to be paid for my work as I expect they do … and a LOT of makers do for their work for some reason. Not sure why that is different.
Sad it is going away but they are that ugly-word “For Profit” business.
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Worst learning curve since Creo to me. I did give Solidworks a try. Got nowhere with it.
I did not particularly like Fusion360, but I could make it work. ( Not that that matters anymore. )
I think it far less likely that FreeCAD will cease to be free than it is that our access to Solidworks will be removed eventually.
A huge problem we have had at DMS is that each different machine type used a different CAD package. That wastes a vast amount of time and does nothing but serve to keep people away from using certain machines.
We need a single CAD package that we have reasonable expectation of having long term access to and we need to use that one on everything from 3D printing to the HAAS.
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Lol thanks. I should probably switch to solid works but right now I love NX way too much.
I’d be willing to bet there will be fallout. Some people can really hold grudges against companies that they felt they wronged them. Ive seen companies blacklist other companies for similar instances.
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Since technically we’re an educational institution, and they say:
Is there an opportunity for us to negotiate either educational licenses for our members, or a discounted rate?
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Creepy. I browsed this thread and then switched over to FakeBook and had this pop up in my feed immediately. I’ve obviously missed some privacy settings (bwahaha) in Chrome.
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We don’t qualify as an Educational institution per the Autodesk definition.
Your argument, “We are an educational institution,” would be more persuasive if you didn’t put the word “technically” in it.
Regardless, it’s been tried. They say no, as recently as this month.
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