Too late. I work with Microsoft professionally, but I’m about to install Linux Mint privately.
Right, but like, they work with Microsoft professionally, but run Linux personally.
Im a new convert, but it’s weird to me how people try and explain how this thing, that currently exists, is somehow a bad choice. Like I don’t know, maybe I do or do not wind up with more of my professional stuff being on my Linux box, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t bother me that Microsoft exists, I’m just happy Linux does. Microsoft can do whatever the hell it wants.
What a problem to have when your engineering team’s skill set are vendor locked. Not that I’m familiar with autodesk or why you absolutely have to use it, but your engineers could perhaps learn to use blender and use a Linux desktop environment and potentially save a lot of money in licenses and subscriptions.
If it’s 3dsMax yes you can switch over, if Blender doesn’t suffice there’s Houdini and many many 3d graphics studios are in fact Linux shops – Linux inherited that particular slice of the market from IRIX. Some seats will still be on windows or more likely Mac because ZBrush, AfterEffects and generally Adobe. If you’re using Maya there’s no issue in the first place as the thing runs on Linux.
If it’s AutoCAD, though, tough fucking luck. Once upon a time there was Siemens NX but they pulled Linux support and free CAD/CAM is nowhere close to production ready.
And, no, retraining people generally is usually not cheaper than paying license fees, by a long shot. Maybe if you pay out of your nose for Houdini but actually only need Blender but who does that in the first place.