Hello everyone. I hope you all are doing well!

Is there a Linux equivilant for Google's Sketchup or at least a very easy-to-use CAD program for linux?

I have Sketchup running under Wine on my Macbook with ubuntu Karmic but it is VERY slow graphically. Painfully slow and basically unusable.

Thanks in advance!!!

For 2D stuff, QCad is a pretty good imitation of AutoCAD. The 3D stuff I've tried is pretty spotty. Nothing as good as Solidworks, but I managed to beat FreeCAD into submission for the simple things I was doing.

Here's a link with a few more programs of varying degree.

Well blender isn't easy to use, but its well worth the effort learning. Since you have never used it go ahead and give the 2.5 alpha0 a shot with the new *easier* ui, there are 1000s of tutorials around and plenty of support forums around.

http://blender.org

Ahh can't edit my post, I misread your post as I thought you wanted a 3D package and you wanted a CAD package. Still give blender a try

According to some electrical engineer I worked with, KiCAD is the best open source CAD oriented app. If you want to make 3D, take blender and do the tutorial "Blender: Noob to pro" on wikibook. It really worth learning it.

While I'm sure it's great, KiCAD is for printed circuit boards and electrical drawings. Google Sketchup is for mechanical systems or structures, which is a totally different type of CAD package.

Thanks guys! Will give Blender a shot.

EDIT: on second thought, it looks like blender will be WAAAY more than I need. I need more of an architectural program to design blue prints for things like speaker cabinets, framing, furniture, etc.

I do exactly that in QCAD.

However... for furniture it is extremely difficult to estimate how the result looks like if you draw only in 2D. 2D is fine as a blueprint for construction. When I design furniture, I model it in Wings3D which has certain compatibility with Blender models. It is much easier to learn tough. 1 or 2 evenings are enough to make basic drawings, no shading and rendering and that stuff, but you don't need that to get an impression.

It is fairly stupid what I do because often I draw the same piece twice, once in 2D and once in 3D.

There are 2D/3D CAD programs available though. Google for "Linux CAD programs" (without quotes) and you'll find several sites listing and describing dozens of programs.

If it is just blueprints, QCAD is fine, 2 hours learing time at the most.

jlinkels