X-Authentication-Warning: delorie.com: mail set sender to geda-user-bounces using -f X-Recipient: geda-user AT delorie DOT com X-UW-Orig-Sender: fpm AT homer01 DOT u DOT washington DOT edu Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 08:48:50 -0700 (PDT) From: "Frank Miles (fpm AT u DOT washington DOT edu) [via geda-user AT delorie DOT com]" To: "Dave McGuire (mcguire AT neurotica DOT com) [via geda-user AT delorie DOT com]" Subject: Re: [geda-user] Stay or go? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <98D1C4E4-581D-4A03-94E4-E0330960EADF AT wellesley DOT edu> User-Agent: Alpine 2.01 (LRH 1217 2009-02-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-PMX-Version: 6.2.1.2493963, Antispam-Engine: 2.7.2.2107409, Antispam-Data: 2016.7.25.153917 X-PMX-Server: mxout26.s.uw.edu X-Uwash-Spam: Gauge=X, Probability=10%, Report=' TO_IN_SUBJECT 0.5, HTML_00_01 0.05, HTML_00_10 0.05, SUPERLONG_LINE 0.05, BODYTEXTP_SIZE_3000_LESS 0, BODY_SIZE_2000_2999 0, BODY_SIZE_5000_LESS 0, BODY_SIZE_7000_LESS 0, DATE_TZ_NA 0, IN_REP_TO 0, LEGITIMATE_NEGATE 0, MSG_THREAD 0, NO_URI_HTTPS 0, REFERENCES 0, SINGLE_URI_IN_BODY 0, __ANY_URI 0, __BOUNCE_CHALLENGE_SUBJ 0, __BOUNCE_NDR_SUBJ_EXEMPT 0, __CP_URI_IN_BODY 0, __CT 0, __CT_TEXT_PLAIN 0, __FORWARDED_MSG 0, __HAS_FROM 0, __HAS_MSGID 0, __IN_REP_TO 0, __MIME_TEXT_ONLY 0, __MIME_VERSION 0, __REFERENCES 0, __SANE_MSGID 0, __SINGLE_URI_TEXT 0, __SUBJ_ALPHA_NEGATE 0, __TO_IN_SUBJECT 0, __TO_MALFORMED_2 0, __URI_IN_BODY 0, __URI_NS , __URI_WITH_PATH 0, __USER_AGENT 0' Reply-To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com Errors-To: nobody AT delorie DOT com X-Mailing-List: geda-user AT delorie DOT com X-Unsubscribes-To: listserv AT delorie DOT com Precedence: bulk On Sat, 23 Jul 2016, Dave McGuire (mcguire AT neurotica DOT com) [via geda-user AT delorie DOT com] wrote: > On 07/23/2016 10:16 AM, James Battat (jbattat AT wellesley DOT edu) [via > geda-user AT delorie DOT com] wrote: >> I?ve used gschem/pcb for several (modest) boards now, and love many things about it. >> I do not love what I perceive to be deep friction and lack of cooperation among developers. >> >> It makes me wonder how long gschem/pcb will endure. And therefore I must decide if, as a user, I should invest any more effort to learning the platform and building up custom footprint/schematic libraries, etc, or instead transition now to another platform. >> >> This may be an unfair question to ask on this forum, but here goes: >> >> What do you see as drawbacks to KiCad (wrt gschem/pcb)? I?m on the fence about transitioning away from gschem/pcb. Why should I stay? > > One big drawback to KiCad that I ran into a little less than a year > ago is that it's very difficult to get running if you're using a Linux > installation more than, say, a month old. I'm not one of those guys who > reinstalls my OS at the drop of a hat (I come from the commercial UNIX > world, not the Windows world) so that just doesn't work for me. > > -Dave > > -- > Dave McGuire, AK4HZ > New Kensington, PA That's old information, at least in Debian - known in some places as one of the least bleeding-edge distributions. For the current "stable" version (Jessie), you can either get an older version of Kicad or get a relatively recent release with some substantial enhancements with the debian-backports version - i.e. compatible with jessie. I would think that Ubuntu has as current a version. If you're still running wheezy (oldstable), only the older version will be readily available. There are a limited number of options for those interested in using a mixture of geda and kicad. I use gschem for my schematics, and kicad for board layout. If you want to try this, you can get my gnetlist-kicad netlister at: http://www.gedasymbols.org/user/frank_miles/ It's my impression (haven't tried it) that kicad can use geda/gschem symbols and/or pcb footprints. That's a nontrivial matter for people with lots of schematics or established footprint libraries! One of the key things that got me into gschem was the ability to convert from my old schematic package (OrCAD) into gschem. Kicad will certainly gain by making conversion from gschem/pcb into their package. If geda/gschem/pcb could convert from kicad it might unskew their advantage. Users, most of all, would benefit as they could experiment without fear of stranding their work with a seldom-used design package. -Frank