Alternative Design Software. Open Source Architect

What has happened to our tools?

First, the software market tends to monopoly. Since the acquisition of Macromedia (Flash, Freehand) Adobe dominates the design software market. Even some of the major 3D software packages are in one hand: Autodesk, the producer of AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max, has bought Alias and now owns Maya and other 3d applications. Not to mention the monopoly of Microsoft.Secondly, software cost easily burst the budget of small architecture firms. What can be done if you do not want to use illegal software?

So it's time to look for some alternatives: open source software. See the brief summary of some recommendable open source applications. Of course this list is not exhaustive! Regrettably it's hard to find an alternative to commercial 2D drafting programs...

Scribus
an open-source desktop publsihing program, supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and PDF creation. Scribus is an alternative to commercial software like Quark or Indesign.http://www.scribus.net/

Inkscape
an Open Source vector graphics editor like Illustrator or Freehand.http://www.inkscape.org

Blender
an open source software for 3D modeling, animation and rendering.http://www.blender.org

Paint.Net
an image and photo manipulation software. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/

Gimp
an image and photo manipulation software.http://www.gimp.org/

OpenOffice
a multiplatform and multilingual office suite, compatible with all other major products.www.openoffice.org/

PDFCreator
creates PDFs from any Windows program.http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/