LibreDWG

GNU LibreDWG is a software library programmed in C to manage DWG computer files, native proprietary format of computer-aided design software AutoCAD. It aims to be a free software replacement for the OpenDWG libraries. The project is managed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).

GNU LibreDWG
Developer(s)GNU Project
Initial releaseMay 16, 2009 (2009-05-16)[1]
Stable release
0.12.5 / February 22, 2022 (2022-02-22)[2]
Repository
Written inC
TypeLibrary
LicenseGNU General Public License v3
Websitewww.gnu.org/software/libredwg/

Motivation

The proprietary format DWG is currently the most used file format in CAD, becoming a de facto standard, without other alternative extended, forcing many users to use this software in a dominant position on the part of the owner company Autodesk.

There did exist the OpenDWG library (later named "Teigha"), to access and manipulate data stored in DWG format, which is developed by reverse engineering by an association of manufacturers of CAD software with the intention of supporting their products. As OpenDWG's license does not allow the usage in free software projects, the FSF created a free alternative to OpenDWG.

History

GNU LibreDWG is based on the LibDWG library, originally written by Rodrigo Rodrigues da Silva and Felipe Correa da Silva Sanches and licensed as GPLv2 around 2005.[3] In July 2010 the FSF noted the creation of an alternative to the OpenDWG library as one of 13 "high priority projects".[4][5]

GPLv3 controversies

In 2009 a license update of LibDWG/LibreDWG to the version 3 of the GNU GPL,[6] made it impossible for the free software projects LibreCAD and FreeCAD to use LibreDWG legally.[5]

Many projects voiced their unhappiness about the GPLv3 license selection for LibreDWG, such as FreeCAD, LibreCAD, Assimp, and Blender.[7] Some suggested the selection of a license with a broader license compatibility, for instance the MIT, BSD, or LGPL 2.1.[7]

A request went to the FSF to relicense GNU LibreDWG as GPLv2, which was rejected in 2012.[8]

Refork

The project was stalled for a few years starting in 2011; this stall occurred for various reasons, including lack of volunteers, licensing issues and programmer motivation.[9] In September 2013, the original project on which LibreDWG is based, LibDWG, announced that it was reactivating, re-forking its code from LibreDWG.[10] A GPLv2 licensed alternative is the libdxfrw project, which can read simple DWGs.[11] The LibreDWG project has resumed active development, including the addition of more recent .dwg and .dxf formats with version 0.5 in June of 2018.[12] The most recent release as of November 2020, version 0.12.5 includes read support for all DWG formats r13+, write support for r2000 DWG and read/write support for all r13+ DXF versions.[13] The upcoming 0.13 release will support reading all existing DWG versions.

References
  1. Initial commit
  2. LibreDWG - Summary
  3. "Felipe Sanches — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software".
  4. John Sullivan (2010). "High Priority Free Software Projects". Archived from the original on 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  5. Larabel, Michael (2013-01-24). "FSF Wastes Away Another "High Priority" Project". Phoronix. Archived from the original on 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2013-08-22. Both LibreCAD and FreeCAD both want to use LibreDWG and have patches available for supporting the DWG file format library, but can't integrate them. The programs have dependencies on the popular GPLv2 license while the Free Software Foundation will only let LibreDWG be licensed for GPLv3 use, not GPLv2.
  6. trunk/copying on sourceforge.net/p/libdwg
  7. Prokoudine, Alexandre (26 January 2012). "What's up with DWG adoption in free software?". libregraphicsworld.org. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2013. [Assimp's Alexander Gessler:] "Personally, I'm extremely unhappy with their [LibreDWG's — LGW] GPL licensing. It prohibits its use in Assimp and for many other applications as well. I don't like dogmatic ideologies, and freeing software by force (as GPL/GNU does) is something I dislike in particular. It's fine for applications, because it doesn't hurt at this point, but, in my opinion, not for libraries that are designed to be used as freely as possible." [Blender's Toni Roosendaal:] "Blender is also still "GPLv2 or later". For the time being we stick to that, moving to GPL 3 has no evident benefits I know of. My advice for LibreDWG: if you make a library, choosing a widely compatible license (MIT, BSD, or LGPL) is a very positive choice."
  8. Prokoudine, Alexandre (2012-12-27). "LibreDWG drama: the end or the new beginning?". libregraphicsworld.org. Archived from the original on 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2013-08-23. [...]the unfortunate situation with support for DWG files in free CAD software via LibreDWG. We feel, by now it ought to be closed. We have the final answer from FSF. [...] "We are not going to change the license."
  9. Prokoudine, Alexandre (26 January 2012). "What's up with DWG adoption in free software?". libregraphicsworld.org. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2013. GPLv3 license. It doesn't work for end-user software, because they tend to use 3rd party components under different licenses that impose restrictions. FSF who are sole copyright holders of LibreDWG objected to relicensing. With regards to FreeCAD project and Yorik van Havre, its contributor, Richard Stallman stated:" You should not change the license of your library. Rather, it is best to make it clear to him what the conditions are." [...] Personally, I'm extremely unhappy with their [LibreDWG's — LGW] GPL licensing. It prohibits its use in Assimp and for many other applications as well. I don't like dogmatic ideologies, and freeing software by force (as GPL/GNU does) is something I dislike in particular. It's fine for applications, because it doesn't hurt at this point, but, in my opinion, not for libraries that are designed to be used as freely as possible.
  10. "LibDWG - free access to DWG". Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  11. libdxfrw on SourceForge.net
  12. "libredwg-0.5 released [alpha]". Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  13. "libredwg-0.12.5 released". Retrieved 6 February 2022.
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