My understanding is that Wine doesn’t do any drivers or interface with any hardware.
On the Explore Air 2 I had, you plug it in via USB or talk to it over Bluetooth[0].
[0] https://help.cricut.com/hc/en-us/articles/6581830148759-Blue...
I do crafting with an inkjet printer and something like the Cricut would be an interesting addition but I had two problems with it:
(i) the quality of work it does is not terrible but not great -- it's better than somebody who's bad with scissors but worse than somebody who's good with scissors.
(ii) when I was looking at it in 2021 they'd announced they were going to put limits on how many unique designs you could upload in a month, but the abandoned this after outcry: https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/18/22338801/cricut-crafting-...
I have a hard time believing anybody is that good and fast with scissors (or craft knives). I cut out a vinyl iPhone skin last night, for example, and it took about a minute.
Maybe I'm just not tumbling down the correct YouTube rabbit holes, and maybe I just really suck at scissors.
If I work slowly I can do better that the Cricut, if I work quickly I do worse. Slow detailed work causes more tension in my hands and discomfort. I do most of my cutting now with a rotary cutter which is effortless but I regularly do straight cuts on longer pieces with a straightedge and knife.
If I had the Cricut I'd probably doing projects that involve many more cuts of complex shapes but I wouldn't be sure I'd be 100% proud of the quality.
To elaborate on my point (ii) it's that anti-consumer announcements have a rachet effect: I heard that they were going to crack down on users, I didn't hear that they'd backed down. So they still lost a sale, not from residual anger or my belief that they are of bad character, but because bad news spreads further than good. It's one more reason why brands should think not just twice but twenty times before making obviously self-destructive moves.
Not having to use the proprietary jank software is so nice, its a value-add over the cricut just to not have to use their software.
It summarizes three brands of machines: Pazzles, in Boisie, Idaho, Cricut from Provo Craft in Spanish Fork, Utah, and Silhouette, from Silhouette America in Lindon, Utah, at that time. I believe Pazzles ceased operation in 2020.
[1] For Crafters, the Gift of Automation, By Peter Wayner, Dec. 2, 2009
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/technology/personaltech/0...
I've used mine for vinyl lettering and decals, making stencils from old transparency sheets, and paper craft stuff. Cameo's can also double as pen plotters, for people who want to try getting into that cheaply. For pen plotter use, I don't think there is much difference between the oldest and newest Cameo, except the option to hold 2 pens at once, so get a cheap used one for $50. For actually cutting things, the autoset blade is a nice option that means a used one might be closer to $100.
jhbruhn•1w ago
The tooling is there in Inkscape (same for embroidery via InkStitch). AFAIK Silhouette plotters can be controlled via Inkscape plugins already.
alias_neo•1w ago
The real take home (as OP is clear about), is don't buy anything from this shitty company, but at least if you already have, and really must use it, you can get their shitty, proprietary, locked down software running on Linux using OPs instructions.
I had always wanted a cutting machine like this, to complement my 3D printers, but I had learned about their plans to charge a subscription to use their software; OPs linked Wiki suggests that was scrapped after backlash; but the damage is done; I'd never buy a thing from them.
kotaKat•1w ago
As a plus, small Silhouettes provide a hardware and software upgrade path off of the Silhouette Studio to Graphtec's own design package, and then up to Graphtec's own full-size vinyl cutters.
nxobject•1w ago
alias_neo•1w ago