New LibreCAD is IMPOSSIBLE TO USE FOR ACTUAL WORK

I would LOVE for someone to explain to me if it is possible to install my beloved version 2.0.2 onto my Linux Mint 19.3 machine. The 2.2.0 version does not work for me. Forgive me all, but a RANT follows

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I am being forced to a new version of LibreCAD. Unlike most programs available under Linux, there appears to be no option to install an earlier version of LibreCAD - ie, the one I know and that works for me.

My previous version is 2.0.2. My new version is whatever is in the repository - 2.1.2.

Where before I had a menu that was focused on the TOOLS I need to create, maintain and consult a drawing, now I have all kinds of junk I do not need: Do you want fancy widgets? How about a bunch of saving options? Would you like fullscreen or something else? (I'm working on a detailed drawing, hmmm... let's see... the most space availiable or - no - wait - maybe I'll opt to SQUEEZE the visual and fill the rest with toolbars, so that it becomes from difficult to impossible to see the drawing itself---). Maybe you'd like to play around with plugins?

In short:are you writing a DESIGN SOFTWARE or a bloody VIDEOGAME?????

ALL MY ACTUAL TOOLS ARE NOW REDUCED TO A SINGLE DROP-DOWN MENU - EXCEPT - OF COURSE - FOR THE EXTREMELY UN-IMPORTANT "SNAP" TOOL WHICH, FOR SOME REASON, YOU FELT THE NEED TO CHANGE INTO A TOOLBAR WITH A BUNCH OF INCOMPREHENSIBLE SYMBOLS.

I do not fault people who like lots of whistles and bells and maybe a cojones thingy on the back of their pickup truck where the trailer hitch goes, and a Jesus bobble-head on the dashboard. But when I work, I WORK. I don't need to waste time with a load of useless options that take up my entire menu without adding anything whatsoever to the program's functionality vis a vis the job at hand.

So if you're going to insist on a 'oh, look, it's so coooool' version of LibreCAD, can you at least make it so that us schleps can continue to work with the old version that was made for people with actual work to do? Because the new version really, truly sucks.

I could have spent 1 hour to try to build but this is definetely not a way with people !

Source code exists on the github repository, you can try to build it based on current version build instruction. Links available on the wiki pages.

Michel,

I think you should edit your rant and be a bit more polite towards developers that bring you LibreCAD free of charge and worked on in their own free time.

That said,
developers of LibreCAD do not add LibreCAD to your beloved Mint, that is something Ming developers do for you (I assume also free of charge) if anything, talk to Mint developers and see if they can release two versions of LibreCAD in your system.

As @R. van Twisk already said, there is no reason to be so LOUD .

When 2.1.x was released, I still used and worked on 2.0.x and I didn't like it too.
But meanwhile, many improvements and efforts have been put into current versions.
I absolutely agree, with your argument about the relation of widgets and drawing area.
But this is changed with a couple clicks and is much less effort than stick with an aged version or trying to build an old version yourself.
My GUI today is very similar with 2.0.x, I disabled all tool dock widgets and work only with my preferred toolbars activated.
In opposite to 2.0.x, where the toolbar was fixed, in 2.1.x's new toolbar and widget features it is possible to adjust the GUI to ones own preferences.
I believe it would have been less offensive, when the new 2.1.x configuration would have been similar to the 2.0.x GUI, but that chance is gone.

The menus have a different order since 2.1.x and need some time to familiarize with for 2.0.x users, but basically everything from 2.0.x is there.

So I advocate, that you give 2.1.2 a chance. As said, I assume it is less effort to adjust the GUI than trying to get an old version to run.
Find all you need in the Widgets menu.

Here some resources concerning toolbars and widgets. The manual is declared for latest 2.2.0 release candidate, but I think in sense of toolbars and widgets it should be applicable for 2.1.2 too.
https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/wiki/Custom-Widgets
https://librecad.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ref/widgets.html
https://librecad.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ref/toolbars.html

I've been looking through what you linked but see no way to customize the main menu. I can create a secondary menu that only appears if I use a specified set of clicks... how did you manage to actually 'recreate' the original look/feel?

I usually do try to be a bit more polite when posting. It is very rare for me to go off like this. But this is truly a case of taking something work-focused and messing it up six ways from Sunday. Seriously: who takes a piece of DESIGN software and relegates the design tools to a submenu?

I have done my share of software development and I understand the temptation to continue to tinker, and tinker, and tinker.

I will follow up on your suggestion to contact Mint developers about making two versions available, but my bet is that they will say that their development follows that of the single software packages, so if LibreCAD releases an update, then that update gets picked up automatically.

HOW TO INSTALL AN OLDER VERSION OF LIBRECAD ON YOUR COMPUTER

I have to thank LordofBikes for showing me where LibreCAD keeps its archived versions:

          https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/releases

The version I chose to install was 2.0.2., which I was able to download. That's step one.

Step two: unzip the software into the following location in Linux Mint/Ubuntu:

          /home/develop

Step three: rename the parent (highest-level) folder, from 'LibreCAD-2.0.2' to just plain 'LibreCAD'

Step four: open a terminal and execute the following instructions:

          sudo apt-get install g++ gcc make git-core qtbase5-dev libqt5svg5-dev\
          qttools5-dev qtchooser qttools5-dev-tools libmuparser-dev librsvg2-bin\
          libboost-dev libfreetype6-dev libicu-dev pkg-config

     These instructions will make sure your system is updated to Qt5,

Step five: open a terminal and execute the following instructions:

          cd /develop/LibreCAD
          sudo qtchooser -qt=qt5 -run-tool=qmake
          sudo qmake -r
          sudo make -j4

     These instructions will use Qt version 5 to compile LibreCAD on your machine.

Step six: It is very likely that the install will abort on the last instruction included in step five, with the message '/usr/include/c++/___/cstdlib:75:25: fatal error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory'. This is because of an error in Qt5 that causes the compiler to miss an essential library. Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this problem:

     6a. As root, open the following document in your favorite text editor:

          /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/mkspecs/common/

     6b. find the following line:

          QMAKE_CFLAGS_ISYSTEM        = -i-system

     6c. Replace ' -i-system' with '-I' (capital i) so that the full line reads:

          QMAKE_CFLAGS_ISYSTEM        = -I

     6d. Save the file and close.

Step seven: Re-run the last command from step five (sudo make -j4), which should now work as expected. This is a very time-heavy step and could take the better part of an hour but, at the end, you will have a fully functional LibreCAD install.

Step eight. Add an icon to your main menu. The one thing the above will not do is insert a menu item for LibreCAD in your main menu. Fortunately, there is an easy fix to that, too. Mint and Ubuntu both come with a pre-installed menu editor. Open this, click 'add', and create a new menu item with name 'LibreCAD' and the path to librecad.sh: /home[USER NAME}/develop/LibreCAD/unix/librecad, where 'USER NAME' is the name of your user folder under '/home'.

LibreCAD icons are found in: /home/[USER NAME}/develop/LibreCAD/desktop/graphics_icons_and_splash/Icon LibreCAD.

Once you've added these items to the menu item creator, click the 'save' button at the top of the menu and 'LibreCAD' will be added to your menu.