this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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I recently decided to force myself to actually learn FreeCad. I've tried on and off for the past two years but just couldn't get along with the UI and workflow...well, now I'm giving it an honest shot, and after a few weeks of misery, it is getting better.

But my laptop is not particularly powerful, and I frequently have performance issues when working with imported step-files. Lo and behold, you can run FreeCad in docker, so I can use my server which is significantly more powerful and just access via browser.

The catch is, it seems to run even worse than on my laptop. I can also see that it actually doesn't use much of the available power of the server. Does anyone have experience with setting up a docker compose for FreeCad? I've looked at the docs and my GPU should be passed through and I've also allocated 32GB ram to the container. But it doesn't actually use it it seems.

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[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The whole point of switching to FreeCad (for me) is to get rid of proprietary software from shitty companies.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yeah that's fair. But I don't pay to use it.

I didn't pay for my copy of Photoshop or illustrator either.

🦜 ⚓

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Supporting actual free and open solutions >> piracy though IMO.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

I 100 percent agree that if you can use open source, then do it.

I haven't tried openscad but I'm willing to try it. I did start learning 3d CAD on FreeCAD and I had a bad time.

Actually when I first saw this post I thought openscad was the program I had previously used but after double checking, I realized I was mixed up.

Hey I love blender and it's Open source and it's always evolving and improving.

I use other open source like audacity and shotcut.

But sometimes there isn't anything better than a proprietary software. Ive never found a comparable replacement for Photoshop, Camera raw, or illustrator. I also like paint tool sai. It's not free exactly but it is a one time small fee. Small company owns it.

So Ill just keep using my pirated versions of those Adobe programs.

But I'm always open to finding alternatives.