maker:listofsoftwareformakers

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List of free software for Makers

Sometimes having the right tools can make all the difference in the world. A lot of really good software packages can tend to be “best kept secrets”.

This is a list¹⁾ of software that Maker may find useful. Everything on this list is “free” (“gratis”), “free” (“libre”), or at the very least has a “light” version for non-commercial use. (Some may restrict commercial application, or require a paid license to use commercially, always check the license ahead of time, and compensate engineers for their work when they ask for it). Applications that are “trial” versions in that critical core functionality is fundamentally crippled or time limited are ineligible for this list.

Anibit staff tends to lean toward Microsoft Windows Desktops, and so this list may have somewhat of a bias, but many of the listed software is cross-platform, and we'll try to make a note of additional platform availability. In addition, many Mac and Linux user are likely already aware of many of these applications.

Document and General File Management

Libre Office

http://www.libreoffice.org/

Libre Office is an open source cross platform office suite.

Libre Office is a fork of the Open Office project. If you haven't tried Libre Office or Open Office in a while you should really give this a try. The quality and compatibility with Microsoft Office has improved a lot in the past couple years.

→ Read more...

[Win | Mac | Linux]

SciTe

http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html

[Win | Linux]²⁾

7-Zip

http://www.7-zip.org/

[Win]

Hex Edit

http://www.hexedit.com/

[Win]

Graphics Editors

The Gimp

http://www.gimp.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Inkscape

http://www.inkscape.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Paint.Net

http://www.getpaint.net/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Blender 3D

http://www.blender.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

MeshLab

http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Physical Modeling

Libre Cad

http://librecad.org/cms/home.html

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Open SCAD

http://www.openscad.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

FreeCAD

http://freecadweb.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

CAM

HeeksCNC

http://heekscnc.blogspot.com/2014/03/heekscnc-10.html

[Win]

OpenScad

http://www.openscad.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Slicer

http://slic3r.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Electrical Design

Eagle

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/eagle-pcb-design-software/product-overview

[Win | Mac | Linux]

KiCad

http://www.kicad-pcb.org/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

LTSpice

http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Fritzing

http://fritzing.org/home/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Software Development Environments

Microsoft Visual Studio Express

http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-express-vs.aspx

[Win]

Python Tools for Visual Studio

http://pytools.codeplex.com/ [Win]

Eclipse/CDT

http://www.eclipse.org/ http://www.eclipse.org/cdt/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Atmel Studio

http://www.atmel.com/tools/atmelstudio.aspx

[Win]

ARM tools for Eclipse

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuarmeclipse/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Math

Microsoft Mathematics

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15702

[Win]

Octave

http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/

[Win | Mac | Linux]³⁾

wxMaxima

http://sourceforge.net/projects/wxmaxima/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

Misc

PovRay

http://www.povray.org/

[Win] ⁴⁾

Audacity

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[Win | Mac | Linux]

¹⁾

This is a work-in-progress! We expect this list to expand greatly, and to add mini-reviews or tech specs for each entry

²⁾

There is a non-free version for Mac

³⁾

versions for FreeBSD and OpenBSD available too

⁴⁾

Mac version in the works, according to their site

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maker/listofsoftwareformakers.1401133552.txt.gz · Last modified: 2014/05/26 19:45 by Anibit