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Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 11:13:20 -0800
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Subject: Re: [geda-user] gEDA as alternative for KiCad (for me)?
From: Ouabache Designworks <z3qmtr45 AT gmail DOT com>
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I've been using KiCad for a number of years now, and am considering
moving to a new EDA suite - gEDA looks like a good candidate. In fact
when choosing an EDA suite back then, KiCad and gEDA were the only
realistic options as far as I could see.



I have been using gschem for years and am now starting to also use kicad.
My experience has only been with schematics and not PCB layout but I
suspect that kicad will have a better PCB editor. That assumption is based
on organizations like CERN announcing that they use kicad and contribute to
the code base.

Gschem is a  better schematic capture tool than eeschema. Some of it may be
that I am used to gschem but I find eeschema hard to use. Operations that
are trivial in gschem are painful in eeschema. Human factors is both
engineering and art and geda has done a better job.

Some parts of kicad are "weird". They show examples of "Hierarchy" but from
what I can tell it is really a case of macro expansion.


My goal is to work with both geda and kicad and create tools so that you
could use either one for IC design.  Forty years ago schematic capture
tools were used for both IC and PCB designs. IC design moved away decades
ago because schematic capture tools simply could not handle the "Big Data"
issues that IC's generate. I plan on creating tools to handle these issues
that could translate between an IC design database  and either geda or
kicad databases. This would actually let you use  either projects schematic
tool with the others PCB layout. I will keep this list posted as I progress.

John Eaton




On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 7:04 AM, Michai Ramakers <m DOT ramakers AT gmail DOT com>wrote:

> Hello,
>
> [ I post this in 'geda-user' instead of 'geda-help' because answers
> might not be short or simple, and might not benefit new users ]
>
> I've been using KiCad for a number of years now, and am considering
> moving to a new EDA suite - gEDA looks like a good candidate. In fact
> when choosing an EDA suite back then, KiCad and gEDA were the only
> realistic options as far as I could see.
>
> Reasons for looking for a KiCad-alternative are subjective, and
> basically boil down to KiCad not being mature enough to use in a
> production-environment. (This is my opinion, not a request for
> flaming.)
>
> Before wading through docs and giving it a serious try, I'd like to
> ask here whether gEDA could provide what I'm looking for in a EDA
> suite; 'yes', 'no' or more elaborate replies are more than welcome.
>
>
> - runs Linux/*BSD (I use NetBSD mostly)
>
> - is stable and mature - no drastic sudden changes in workflow or
> file-format or similar
>
> - uses plaintext file-format for interchange between suite-components
>
> - comes with complete and detailed documentation - that includes
> file-format details, so I can script against that, and these scripts
> will continue to work over releases
>
> - has a coherent project-website (or rather, one-stop source of
> information, not scattered throughout the web)
>
>
> I think that for most of these, it is easy to say whether gEDA
> qualifies or not, but comments and mentions of corner-cases are
> welcome.
>
> Furthermore, it would be nice to have a proper auto-router. I was
> impressed by the 'freerouting.net' autorouter, and read various mails
> about gEDA interfacing to the input-/output-formats that
> freerouting.net supports, with no definitive answer. I suppose I'd
> have to test the gEDA internal autorouter to know how it compares to
> the freerouting.net one (or not?).
>
> Thank you in advance,
> with kind regards,
>
> Michai
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div><div><div><div><div>I&#39;ve been using KiCad for a n=
umber of years now, and am considering<br>
moving to a new EDA suite - gEDA looks like a good candidate. In fact<br>
when choosing an EDA suite back then, KiCad and gEDA were the only<br>
realistic options as far as I could see.<br><br><br><br></div>I have been u=
sing gschem for years and am now starting to also use kicad. My experience =
has only been with schematics and not PCB layout but I suspect that kicad w=
ill have a better PCB editor. That assumption is based on organizations lik=
e CERN announcing that they use kicad and contribute to the code base.<br>
<br></div>Gschem is a=A0 better schematic capture tool than eeschema. Some =
of it may be that I am used to gschem but I find eeschema hard to use. Oper=
ations that are trivial in gschem are painful in eeschema. Human factors is=
 both engineering and art and geda has done a better job.<br>
<br></div>Some parts of kicad are &quot;weird&quot;. They show examples of =
&quot;Hierarchy&quot; but from what I can tell it is really a case of macro=
 expansion.<br><br><br></div>My goal is to work with both geda and kicad an=
d create tools so that you could use either one for IC design.=A0 Forty yea=
rs ago schematic capture tools were used for both IC and PCB designs. IC de=
sign moved away decades ago because schematic capture tools simply could no=
t handle the &quot;Big Data&quot; issues that IC&#39;s generate. I plan on =
creating tools to handle these issues that could translate between an IC de=
sign database=A0 and either geda or kicad databases. This would actually le=
t you use=A0 either projects schematic tool with the others PCB layout. I w=
ill keep this list posted as I progress.<br>
<br></div>John Eaton<br><div><div><div><div><div><br><br>
</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><br><div=
 class=3D"gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 7:04 AM, Michai Ramakers <sp=
an dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:m DOT ramakers AT gmail DOT com" target=3D"_blank=
">m DOT ramakers AT gmail DOT com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hello,<br>
<br>
[ I post this in &#39;geda-user&#39; instead of &#39;geda-help&#39; because=
 answers<br>
might not be short or simple, and might not benefit new users ]<br>
<br>
I&#39;ve been using KiCad for a number of years now, and am considering<br>
moving to a new EDA suite - gEDA looks like a good candidate. In fact<br>
when choosing an EDA suite back then, KiCad and gEDA were the only<br>
realistic options as far as I could see.<br>
<br>
Reasons for looking for a KiCad-alternative are subjective, and<br>
basically boil down to KiCad not being mature enough to use in a<br>
production-environment. (This is my opinion, not a request for<br>
flaming.)<br>
<br>
Before wading through docs and giving it a serious try, I&#39;d like to<br>
ask here whether gEDA could provide what I&#39;m looking for in a EDA<br>
suite; &#39;yes&#39;, &#39;no&#39; or more elaborate replies are more than =
welcome.<br>
<br>
<br>
- runs Linux/*BSD (I use NetBSD mostly)<br>
<br>
- is stable and mature - no drastic sudden changes in workflow or<br>
file-format or similar<br>
<br>
- uses plaintext file-format for interchange between suite-components<br>
<br>
- comes with complete and detailed documentation - that includes<br>
file-format details, so I can script against that, and these scripts<br>
will continue to work over releases<br>
<br>
- has a coherent project-website (or rather, one-stop source of<br>
information, not scattered throughout the web)<br>
<br>
<br>
I think that for most of these, it is easy to say whether gEDA<br>
qualifies or not, but comments and mentions of corner-cases are<br>
welcome.<br>
<br>
Furthermore, it would be nice to have a proper auto-router. I was<br>
impressed by the &#39;<a href=3D"http://freerouting.net" target=3D"_blank">=
freerouting.net</a>&#39; autorouter, and read various mails<br>
about gEDA interfacing to the input-/output-formats that<br>
<a href=3D"http://freerouting.net" target=3D"_blank">freerouting.net</a> su=
pports, with no definitive answer. I suppose I&#39;d<br>
have to test the gEDA internal autorouter to know how it compares to<br>
the <a href=3D"http://freerouting.net" target=3D"_blank">freerouting.net</a=
> one (or not?).<br>
<br>
Thank you in advance,<br>
with kind regards,<br>
<br>
Michai<br>
</blockquote></div><br></div>

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