AutoDesk has purchased most every potential competitor since they bought Generic CADD in the late 1980&#x27;s. Except Sketchup. Google bought them just as they released professional tools. Then stopped development, cut features such as DXF import&#x2F;export from the bottom tier and eventually spun off the dead hulk. In the interim, Autodesk created &quot;TrueDWG&quot; to spread FUD.<p>Anyway buying competitors has allowed Autodesk to shape the US AEC industry toward proprietary file formats such as Revit, while their low end product AutoCad Lite insures that small shops never automate and the construction design industry buys subscriptions in the hope that this year&#x27;s features will actually effect the bottom line. They won&#x27;t.<p>It&#x27;s a great example of how to run a startup that creates a monopoly. They beat Adobe to the subscription model by more than a decade.<p>The <i>Autodesk File</i> is an excellent look inside its early days: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fourmilab.ch&#x2F;autofile&#x2F;www&#x2F;autofile.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fourmilab.ch&#x2F;autofile&#x2F;www&#x2F;autofile.html</a>