Especially because those softwares have been laying off developers for years and scaling back features. The reason they cost so much now is because existing features are being locked behind separate "services" that you have to pay per person per year.
So an engineering firm with 10 drafters needs to pay $3000/chair/year or $30,000/year just for AutoCAD any additional products incur separate seat fees.
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Yup.
But most of the people buying the software are using it work on corporate-owned copyright hell-shit as well.
It's a giant circle-jerk of money.
You're totally fucked if you're Indie/small however.
Especially because those softwares have been laying off developers for years and scaling back features. The reason they cost so much now is because existing features are being locked behind separate "services" that you have to pay per person per year.
So an engineering firm with 10 drafters needs to pay $3000/chair/year or $30,000/year just for AutoCAD any additional products incur separate seat fees.
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I do, but industry standards usually require proprietary AutoDesk formats and such. Soyou can't really do foss in industrial settings.
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Definitely not, which is why it's so ridiculous. You need an insane amount of capital to operate any sort of engineering firm.