Check out onshape.com for a cloud based open-source CAD platform. Obviously doesn't fully replace CAD programs like autocad, solidworks, Catia etc, but pretty good nonetheless.
Edit: check out https://www.osalt.com for open source alternatives to most popular software.
I agree with what others have said. If it is a low difficulty that attracts your attention, maybe you could expand your view on available cad software.
Look here and here for alternatives, some of them might be more suitable than the usual Autodesk software.
Personaly I heard good stuff about sketchup.
Firefox is open source. You're less likely to run afoul of the subtle spyware that Chrome is littered with... like how it does 'online' spell checking. Basically, sending every character you type 'anonymously' on reddit, to Google.
Most browsers just prompt to 'make ME default' when you run them, BTW. Chrome is no exception. So you're asking for a solution for a problem a Chrome user wouldn't have, unless they fiddled with 'chrome://flags'.
You can't beat free. If you just suddenly need some software to edit some audio, or mass-convert images from one format to another, or edit an image, or pretty much anything else you could think of to do with a computer, there's an open source alternative for it.
Well, better than paying a never-ending license fee, to 'borrow' various commercial software.
I don't think the big name apps are the issue. There are usually Linux equivalents. It's the niche ones.
I also think a lot of people would be surprised at how many Linux alternatives there are if they haven't looked.
Or just google 'open source alternatives', since you probably won't remember the URL.
Lots of software that costs hundreds, even thousands of dollars, per license (per seat), have perfectly functional, adequate, FREE alternatives. FREE FOREVER, not an introductory trap, to lock you in.
From there, you can find lots of tools. Need to just tweak a photo? GIMP. Edit some audio? Audacity. Write up some spreadsheets/documents? LibreOffice.org
So many, many ABSOLUTELY FREE, FOREVER applications, and governments throw away our tax dollars on commercial software. Businesses burn their profits on it. Schools fuck over their students, forcing them to use commercial software.
The big 'security hint' here (especially for WINDOWS users), is to only download these from their project home pages. Otherwise, you'll get maliciously bundled shitware and malware packaged with the installers. Naturally, if you started with 'sudu apt-get ...' from a 'Bourne Again SHell', that's a lot less of a worry.
If you mean "Free as in freedom", check out the following alternatives to close-source software. These applications respect your privacy and allow you to freely use, modify, and redistribute their code:
Closed-Source Software | FOSS Alternative |
---|---|
Internet Explorer/Chrome | Firefox |
PhotoShop | GIMP |
Microsoft Office | LibreOffice |
Microsoft Windows | Linux Distributions (Various) * |
Windows Media Player | vlc |
These are just some examples. You can find many other alternatives on this site.
* Linux distributions that come highly recommended for beginners include Ubuntu, Elementary, Mint, and many others. I personally reccomend Elementary