The recent post on foss software got me thinking about viable foss alternatives, particularly non programming related.

I just came across FreeCAD and am wondering if anyone has experience using it, how it compares to Solidworks, Autodesk, Rhino or Catia?

I was shown Kicad at uni by a ladtech and was very impressed, way easier and more flexible then whatever microchip software they where teaching.

On a broader level what other professional ffos alternatives do you guys know about?

Is anyone using this stuff on a professional level or is it more hobby at the moment?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the future of software and where native apps and the web will reconcile and I had the idea that what if "the next OS" had a OSS federated app store that people and organizations could host themselves, but the system still used the app store model that pull app/program listings from all the installations online? This could apply to mobile or desktop computing, or even any of the other platforms (see windows store system compatibility).