Ubuntu Linux

[FishNut]

I have avoided Linux for years, just not interested. Recently on vacationI had to use a PC with Ubuntu linux to check my email & internet. Curious, over the next month I have installed and studied this OS, and have fallen in love with it. I have done most of this in the name of internet security, simply tired of the constant threats to XP.The system is just so simple, common sense, and in a word, just works. So many free and open source apps for it it makes your head spin.


It is too bad that PTC is discontuing support for Linux. I do understand the economics, that there simply were not enough users to justify the cost of development. But now that there is a linux system that is actually practical, we will never have a chance to use it in the business world, at least for CAD.

 

[paulgress]

It is my understanding that Linux was a moving target. There is no stable ABI (application binary interface). It is my belief that is the reason for discontinuing support.

Now to move on, Solaris X86 is the only Unix version available from WF5 and on.

Solaris SXCE is right now very similar to Linux in functionality, but is considered a preview of Solaris 11. I have WF4 and WF5 running on it no problems, even better then Solaris 10. But SXCE is not certified to run WF4 or WF5.

Opensolaris is supported by Sun and should be able to run WF4 and WF5, but I haven't tried it yet, which I will in about 2 months time. Opensolaris is not certified to run WF4 and WF5.

The reason these derivatives work is Sun/Solaris has a stable ABI and Sun guarantees backward compatability, the ability to run older binaries compiled on previous releases.

So my answer to you is to try Solaris SXCE, or wait until I test Opensolaris.

 

[design-engine]

We use Linux to manage internet web servers.... We have two at a Network Operations Center in Oakland. proetools.com designengine.com and a couple hundred other domains.

 

[damormino]

We have been running Pro/E WildFire 3 on Ubuntu Linux for several years. We have also run it on RedHat, CentOS, Fedora and Debian Linux distributions. However, it is true the Pro/E will not run well on certain Linux distrobution versions, due mostly to the way PTC developed their Linux version.

Most Linux applications, including Blender which is more 3D and graphics intensive than Pro/E, run on various Linux distributions fine. The problems with Pro/E is the way PTC approached Linux development.

We also use NX (Unigraphics) on Linux. While NX is much better than Pro/E for Linux, we still have seen some similar issues, and again these are more to do with the way Siemens (Unigraphics) approaches Linux.

It seems these companies look at Linux as a Unix replacement, instead of a new and exciting OS. Unix tended to be used by large organizations with large IT staffs. As such, both PTC and Siemens drop the ball on certain installation and configuration issue into the users courts - thinking their IT department will want to deal with these things.

By contrast, most Linux users smaller, or better yet leaner, companies looking to be efficient and agile. They typically do not have large IT departments and expect to be able to install and configure the applications easily.

I almost think that applications like SolidWorks and SolidEdge would be better suited to many Linux users, as these users typically gravitate toward this class of products. Siemens owns both NX and SolidEdge (my understanding is that they share the same code components), but Siemens decides only to offer NX on Linux. Siemens misreads the market here.

I too have heard that there was not enough market to justify Pro/E on Linux. But do not give PTC too much credit. They have misread the market on many occasions - surrendering market share to more agile competitors. I think PTC's position on Linux is more of a misread, and the difficulty they had with Linux a testament to their lack of technical compentency.