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Subject: Re: [geda-user] Freerouting finally free (GPL3)
From: Stefan Salewski <mail AT ssalewski DOT de>
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Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 18:00:27 +0200
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On Wed, 2014-04-02 at 18:26 +0200, Kai-Martin Knaak wrote:
> al davis wrote:
> 
> > On Friday 28 March 2014, Kai-Martin Knaak wrote:
> >> As a side note, I found that kicad and eagle both can deal
> >> with specctra  files...
> > 
> > Every layout program except PCB can deal with specctra files.
> > 
> So this is more reason to add a specctra interface code the main branch of 
> pcb.
> 
> ---<)kaimartin(>---

Have you verified that the specctra format can be freely used without
legal issues?

I was looking for format description about two years ago, when I started
my own toporouter -- and that time I found format description only on a
russian site. I think that the owner of that format is not the big
company with the broken fruit, so risk of legal issues is not that
great. But there may be a risk still.

In my opinion benefit of specctra format for PCB is not that big -- do
we really intent to use free tools for schematic and PCB, and then use a
commercial router? (Seems to me as strange as using free open source
tools on commercial operating system.) I do not know something about the
router of Alfons Wirtz -- if it really is good and GPL now, it may be
possible to make it compatible with PCB data format. (I have to admit
that I have not really big hope for his router -- he has not worked on
it in the last 5 years himself, and I wonder if his code is really well
written and documented?) An other approach may be to write a converter
from PCB format to KiCAD format, that would cover specctra format export
and at the some time the KiCad push&shove router.