<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
is	O
a	O
general-purpose	O
parametric	O
3D	O
computer-aided	B-Application
design	I-Application
(	O
CAD	B-Application
)	O
modeler	O
and	O
a	O
building	B-Architecture
information	I-Architecture
modeling	I-Architecture
(	O
BIM	B-Architecture
)	O
software	O
application	O
with	O
finite	B-Application
element	I-Application
method	I-Application
(	O
FEM	B-Application
)	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
is	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
,	O
under	O
the	O
LGPL-2.0-or-later	B-Application
license	O
,	O
and	O
available	O
for	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
operating	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
extend	O
the	O
functionality	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
using	O
the	O
Python	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
features	O
tools	O
similar	O
to	O
CATIA	B-Algorithm
,	O
Creo	B-Application
,	O
SolidWorks	B-Application
,	O
Solid	B-Algorithm
Edge	I-Algorithm
,	O
NX	B-Algorithm
,	O
Inventor	B-Device
,	O
Revit	B-Application
,	O
and	O
therefore	O
also	O
falls	O
into	O
the	O
category	O
of	O
building	B-Architecture
information	I-Architecture
modeling	I-Architecture
(	O
BIM	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
mechanical	B-Application
computer-aided	I-Application
design	I-Application
(	O
MCAD	O
)	O
,	O
PLM	O
,	O
CAx	O
and	O
CAE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
many	O
modern	O
3D	O
CAD	B-Application
modelers	O
,	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
has	O
a	O
2D	O
component	O
to	O
facilitate	O
3D-to-2D	O
drawing	O
conversion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
its	O
current	O
state	O
,	O
direct	O
2D	O
drawing	O
(	O
like	O
AutoCAD	O
LT	O
)	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
focus	O
for	O
this	O
software	O
,	O
and	O
neither	O
are	O
animation	O
or	O
3D	O
model	O
manipulation	O
(	O
like	O
Blender	B-Application
,	O
Maya	B-Language
,	O
or	O
Cinema	B-Device
4D	I-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
modular	O
nature	O
of	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
adapt	O
its	O
workflow	O
for	O
such	O
environments	O
via	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
plugins	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
uses	O
open-source	O
libraries	O
from	O
the	O
field	O
of	O
computing	O
science	O
;	O
among	O
them	O
are	O
Open	B-Language
CASCADE	I-Language
Technology	I-Language
(	O
a	O
CAD	B-Algorithm
kernel	I-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
Coin3D	B-Application
(	O
an	O
incarnation	O
of	O
Open	B-Application
Inventor	I-Application
)	O
,	O
the	O
Qt	B-Language
GUI	O
framework	O
,	O
and	O
Python	B-Language
,	O
a	O
popular	O
scripting	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
itself	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
library	O
by	O
other	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
moves	O
to	O
expand	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
in	O
the	O
architecture	O
,	O
electrical	O
,	O
and	O
construction	O
(	O
AEC	O
)	O
engineering	O
sectors	O
and	O
to	O
add	O
building	B-Architecture
information	I-Architecture
modeling	I-Architecture
(	O
BIM	B-Architecture
)	O
functionality	O
with	O
the	O
Arch	O
Module	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
late	O
2020	O
,	O
3D	O
Models	O
searcher	O
of	O
CADENAS	O
called	O
is	O
integrated	O
into	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
's	O
own	O
main	O
file	O
format	O
is	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
Standard	O
file	O
format	O
(	O
.FCStd	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Document.xml	O
file	O
has	O
all	O
geometric	O
and	O
parametric	O
objects	O
definitions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GuiDocument.xml	O
then	O
has	O
visual	O
representation	O
details	O
of	O
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
files	O
include	O
brep-files	O
for	O
objects	O
and	O
thumbnail	O
of	O
drawing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
's	O
own	O
file	O
format	O
,	O
files	O
can	O
be	O
exported	O
and	O
imported	O
in	O
DXF	O
,	O
SVG	B-Application
(	O
Scalable	B-Application
Vector	I-Application
Graphics	I-Application
)	O
,	O
STEP	O
,	O
IGES	O
,	O
STL	O
(	O
STereoLithography	O
)	O
,	O
OBJ	O
(	O
Wavefront	O
)	O
,	O
DAE	O
(	O
Collada	O
)	O
,	O
SCAD	O
(	O
OpenSCAD	B-Language
)	O
,	O
IV	O
(	O
Inventor	B-Device
)	O
and	O
IFC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
's	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
important	O
DWG	O
file	O
format	O
has	O
been	O
problematic	O
due	O
to	O
software	B-License
license	I-License
compatibility	O
problems	O
with	O
the	O
GNU	B-Algorithm
LibreDWG	I-Algorithm
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GNU	B-Algorithm
LibreDWG	I-Algorithm
library	O
started	O
as	O
a	O
real	O
free	B-Application
alternative	O
to	O
the	O
source-available	B-License
OpenDWG	O
library	O
(	O
later	O
Teigha	O
Converter	O
and	O
now	O
ODA	O
File	O
Converter	O
)	O
and	O
is	O
licensed	O
under	O
the	O
GPLv3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
(	O
and	O
also	O
LibreCAD	B-Language
)	O
has	O
dependencies	O
on	O
Open	B-Language
Cascade	I-Language
,	O
which	O
prior	O
to	O
version	O
6.7.0	O
was	O
only	O
compatible	O
with	O
GPLv2	O
,	O
it	O
could	O
n't	O
use	O
the	O
GNU	B-Algorithm
LibreDWG	I-Algorithm
library	O
as	O
GPLv2	O
and	O
GPLv3	O
are	O
essentially	O
incompatible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Open	B-Language
CASCADE	I-Language
technology	I-Language
was	O
contacted	O
by	O
Debian	O
team	O
in	O
2009	O
,	O
and	O
2012	O
got	O
a	O
reply	O
that	O
Open	B-Language
CASCADE	I-Language
technology	I-Language
was	O
considering	O
dual-licensing	O
OCCT	O
(	O
the	O
library	O
)	O
,	O
however	O
they	O
postponed	O
that	O
move	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
request	O
also	O
went	O
to	O
the	O
FSF	B-Operating_System
to	O
relicense	O
GNU	B-Algorithm
LibreDWG	I-Algorithm
as	O
GPLv2	O
or	O
LGPLv3	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
rejected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2014	O
the	O
0.14	O
release	O
of	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
,	O
including	O
the	O
new	O
LGPL	B-Application
release	O
of	O
Open	B-Language
Cascade	I-Language
,	O
the	O
BSD-licensed	O
version	O
of	O
Coin3D	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
removal	O
of	O
PyQT	O
,	O
FreeCAD	B-Language
is	O
now	O
completely	O
GPL-free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
LibreDWG	B-Algorithm
has	O
not	O
been	O
adopted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
is	O
able	O
to	O
import	O
and	O
export	O
a	O
limited	O
subset	O
of	O
the	O
DWG	O
format	O
via	O
the	O
ODA	O
File	O
Converter	O
(	O
the	O
former	O
OpenDWG	O
library	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeCAD	B-Language
was	O
notably	O
presented	O
at	O
FISL	O
16	O
in	O
2015	O
,	O
in	O
Porto	O
Alegre	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
at	O
the	O
Libre	O
Graphics	O
Meeting	O
in	O
London	O
in	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
two	O
exhibitions	O
can	O
bring	O
together	O
both	O
developers	B-Application
and	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
during	O
FOSDEM	O
in	O
Brussels	O
that	O
two	O
of	O
these	O
developers	B-Application
,	O
Yorik	O
Van	O
Havre	O
and	O
Brad	O
Collette	O
made	O
the	O
presentation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
Release	O
date	O
Information	O
Initial	O
release	O
sketcher	O
,	O
part	O
,	O
2D	O
and	O
robot	O
modules	O
architecture	O
Module	O
ship	O
design	O
module	O
,	O
openscad	B-Language
module	O
,	O
3D	O
mice	O
support	O
License	O
changed	O
to	O
LGPLv2+	O
,	O
spreadsheet	O
module	O
,	O
render	O
to	O
LuxRender	O
Oculus	B-Device
Rift	I-Device
support	O
,	O
updated	O
ifc	B-Application
importer	O
in	O
Architecture	O
module	O
FEM	B-Application
workbench	O
,	O
path	O
module	O
add	O
on	O
manager	O
,	O
surface	O
module	O
,	O
tech	O
draw	O
module	O
new	O
start	O
view	O
,	O
extended	O
arch	O
module	O
,	O
many	O
improved	O
modules	O
In	O
0.18.5	O
Addon-Manager	O
broken	O
,	O
so	O
0.18.4	O
is	O
stable	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
