I als= o came to similar sad realization last year. Even though I use geda for cur= rent projects, I am slowly and hesitantly started shifting to another EDA t= ool. My thinking process was

During Covid, most of o= ur doctors (+ other professionals we worked w/) who were about 10 yrs to re= tirement, retired early and suddenly. Daughter=E2=80=99s physician, son=E2= =80=99s physician, kid=E2=80=99s dentist, our cat=E2=80=99s doctor. Luckily= , my doctor is younger than me, so I should be good 😊
A similar fate wa= s coming up to my Linux setup =E2=80=93 my Lenovo t420 and slackware 14.2.= =C2=A0 It=E2=80=99s getting hard to find good parts for t420 now (most t420= stuff on ebay is junk now).=C2=A0 Slackware went to 15.0, which is better = =E2=80=93 at least it supports nvme drives for my use case but still a bit = behind compared to other distros to support modern hardware. Then most othe= r Linux distributions don=E2=80=99t support geda so I was personally limite= d to slackware 15 and ubuntu 18.04 lts.
I looked into other geda de= rivatives mentioned but none of them clicked w/ me as the origjnal.=C2=A0 T= here is something magical about gschem and pcb, like the smell of a library= or the smell of a working office you notice and makes you motivated and cr= eative immediately.
My attempts to compile on my own failed. =C2=A0= I=E2=80=99m a regular average joe the user so if distros had problems then = may be this was expected of me =E2=80=A6
Continuation is getting ri= skier and riskier for me due to limited hw and sw options=E2=80=A6
= Came to sad realization I will need to have another CAD setup ready going f= orward. I might as well do it now while I have time and maybe consider a wi= der range of features than 1-1 match (autorouting, 3D views, simulations, o= nline, etc.).

I think the sudden amount of traffic on this topic shows how m= uch people care and love geda. =C2=A0I get the impression we still have hop= e, but time will tell=E2=80=A6 As I tell my doctors every time I see them, = please don=E2=80=99t retire yet.

<= /p>

Erturk

PS: I=E2=80=99m sorry I don=E2=80=99t have time to co= ntribute work myself. Following time=3Dmoney logic, if there is any use in = pitching money for servers or hw or whatever, I will be more than happy to = do it. Money won=E2=80=99t be the solution, but wanted to say it shouldn=E2= =80=99t be the reason.

From: Glenn (glimrick AT epilitimus DOT com) [= via geda-user AT delorie DOT com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 1:= 01 PM
To: geda-user AT delo= rie.com
Subject: Re: [geda-user] is geda dead yet?

<= p class=3DMsoNormal>
My two cents = as an on again off again user:
1. My main attachmen= t to geda is laziness, i.e. I don't use it enough to
have developed a sentimental attachment to it, but I use it enough that
it would be bothersome converting to another package= .
2. Every time I have worked on the gschem code, t= he wanna-be c++ nature
of it has set my teeth on ed= ge. But then if I had my way it would be
written in= QT instead of GTK.
3. I have found the wiki to be = quite out dated and have resorted to the
code more = often than not to figure out how to do something.
4= . The reliance on multiple languages (c, scheme, python) is annoying
and makes it more difficult to work with. In my view the = scripting
languages should be more of a add-on rath= er than part of the core. All
my coding has been wi= th gschem/gnetlist so I can't speak about pcb etc.
= from that direction.

With that said, I will probably keep using it since I tend to = not
upgrade my OS/machine very often. So if DJ shut= s down the server i will
just keep my own local cop= y and work with that. I am one of those that
is not= particularly upset about no new releases since if it ain't broke,
don't fix it. But I can understand that it uses up resource= s that could
be put to better use.

If anyone is interested I= have the server space that I could put gzips
of th= e code on. That way it would still be available without the trouble
of putting it on github, etc.

End of an era <sigh>

DJ Delorie wrote:
> No significant commits in years.
>
> No releases in= years.
>
> Subprojects moving away, or forking.
>
> Mailing lists are oddly quiet.=
>
>= Risks are arising about dependencies on obsolete toolkits.
>
> Nobody seems in= terested in maintaining it any more.
> = ;
> I'm contemplating pulling the plug on = the 12 year old server and
> calling it a day.
>
> A= nyone want to argue otherwise?=C2=A0 ;-)
>&= nbsp;
> (and if you do, you'll likely end = up owning it ;)
>
> DJ
>

=