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From:	"Gene Heskett (gheskett AT shentel DOT net) [via geda-user AT delorie DOT com]" <geda-user AT delorie DOT com>
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To:	geda-user AT delorie DOT com
Subject:	Re: [geda-user] We are about to alienate users was -> geda-gaf fork
Date:	Tue, 14 Feb 2017 11:53:28 -0500
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Reply-To:	geda-user AT delorie DOT com

On Tuesday 14 February 2017 10:56:00 James Battat (jbattat AT wellesley DOT edu) 
[via geda-user AT delorie DOT com] wrote:

> On 2/14/17 10:29 AM, myken wrote:
> > On 14/02/17 15:47, John Doty wrote:
> >> The problem is that there’s no clear line here. gEDA isn’t consumer
> >> software. Many users who are not core developers are contributors,
> >> especially at gedasymbols.org. If you expect to be a consumer of
> >> some integrated thing, gEDA isn’t for you anyway.
> >
> > Sure, but no new user is a contributor at the beginning of his/her
> > interest. They are just looking for confirmation that it is safe to
> > invest time into the suite. And believe me listing in on the
> > geda-user list will not give you that confirmation. And as a
> > contributor you may also not be interested in the development stuff.
> > geda-users, geda-contrib, geda-develp, geda-rant.
> >
> > But then again make a choice. If you all want gEDA to be a obscure
> > specialised tool only accessible by the die-hards and core uses,
> > please do so. Nothing needs to change then :-)
>
> +1.
>
> And I'll add that I really don't understand why some folks on this
> list take on the attitude reflected in John D.'s comment:
>    "If you expect to be a consumer of some integrated thing, gEDA
> isn’t for you anyway."
> 1) why does a user have to become a developer?  Surely you'd get
> satisfaction if the tools that you have invested so much time in are
> useful to other people as-is.
> 2) how do you expect to attract and retain users or developers with
> this stance?

I'll do another +1 here.

As an amateur who started making pcb's with tape on mylar back in the 
1960's, I have tried to use this suite of tools several times, but 
everytime the parts count rises above 5 or 6, I am driven back to the 
free version of eagle. Keeping up with the lastest versions of eagle can 
be frustrating, but the frustration level is less per part with a higher 
part count.  You eventually get used to it.

Today I'd cut mine with an engraving tool on a milling machine, and 
compatibility with pcb2gcode and its ilk would be a huge plus. Last 
board I made, 8 parts IIRC for a charge pump detector, I just sat down 
and wrote the traces I needed directly in gcode.  I could print the 
schematic, no big deal, but how the heck to get a .brd file out of it 
escaped me. So discouraged I by that I haven't even tried geda in about 
a year. You folks are all scratching your particular itch, without 
considering the user friendly part.  And thats pretty well driven this 
user to eagle for good for 8 parts or more projects.

Cheers, Gene Heskett
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>

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