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Please provide a link to any mainstream working application for Mac OS X that uses Qt. I don't know of a single one because Qt's support for XCode is incredibly poor.

Ok, I know for a fact (by having several email volleys with the Developer) that Eagle PCB/Schematic Capture, etc. CAD/CAE suite uses Qt on OS X.

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

And I'm sure there are some others on this list. In fact, about 1/2 of the Qt-based engineering apps listed at the bottom of the page list OS X as a Target OS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

And if you want Proprietary software with OS X versions that use Qt, here's a list. I'm sure you'll recognize most of these apps:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Now, having said all that, Qt is horrible. But not unpopular...

So how much accounting, sales order processing, customer relations management, HR, payroll,stock control and other business related software is available on a Mac? Or Linux?

Glad you asked!

My personal favorite in the ERP world is xTuple (formerly Open Mfg). They even have a free QuickBooks-Like version. Speaking as an ERP software dev. myself, this package is strong enough that I have seriously considered becoming a VAR for it.

Then, there are the longstanding AccountEdge/MYOB, and AppGen/Custom Suite (AppGen Custom Suite is pretty cool, IMHO). I also see FlexWare Accounting, which has a Manufacturing add-on. Don't know much about FlexWare; but it looks pretty complete.

Then there are the interesting database/app-generation systems, such as Omnis (which had the whole idea of "web apps" NAILED more than a decade ago), and, last but certainly not least, 4D, also sporting a wonderful web-app solution. Both are big database-oriented Application-Creation packages that have marched along for years, never quite getting traction, but never quite falling over, either! In fact, 4D's web server was eventually spun-off into its own product (name escapes me, sorry!), and has the enviable reputation of not only being faster that snot, but also has never been hacked... Both Omnis and 4D embraced the concept of being able to "publish" applications directly on the web, such that the apps retained all, or nearly all, of the look-and-feel of the "desktop" versions. Quite cool, actually.

And the hidden advantage is that pretty much all, if not all, of the Mac business software is actually cross-platform; so you get platform-independence "for free". What's not to like about that?!?

As far as CAD/CAE tools go, there are several choices. My personal favorite is VectorWorks, which whips all-over AutoCAD (but maybe not so much on Inventor). I have a longstanding Mac consulting client, who has to live in a world of architects who use AutoCAD, and he has zero problems using VectorWorks with their files, import or export. The only "problem" is that VectorWorks actually supports many things that AutoCAD does not; so he has to be somewhat careful not to use features that AutoCAD (by all rights, should, but) does not support. In fact, when AutoCAD became available (again) for Macs, he wasn't the slightest bit interested in switching away from VectorWorks. And although not widely known in this country, the extremely high-end CAD/CAM/CAE system Siemens PLM NX/UG (Unigraphics) has been available on OS X since at least 2009, and is also available on Linux.

And let's not forget Qt. It's a royal pain to develop in; but you can certainly churn out some pretty complex cross-platform apps in the environment. Eagle PCB is a good example of how advanced a Qt-based app can get... As a (now former, I guess) embedded developer, I used to lament the lack of good (or really, ANY) development tools for Macs. But even that has been (slowly) changing. Microchip now supports both Macs and Linux with MPLab X (helped along considerably by the acquisition of Hi-Tech, and their cross-platform C Compilers). And BTW, Microchip even addresses the question of "Why not just

I works as an electronic engineer and I have a lot of parts I use for my different projects. When I start a new project, I have to use the same components, where it is necessary to have a database. I already used the phpinventory : http://www.phpwares.com/ And if you need something better, there is openbravo http://www.openbravo.com/ which is a real ERP ( based on Compiere ) which I plan to use for my new company. But as said before by someone else, it takes a lot of time and discipline to maintain such database, but it is very powerfull. If you create pcb, EAGLE ( http://www.cadsoftusa.com/ ) you can use a database when you create BOM and the software populate directly the BOM with the good components, which help you to keep your standard components.

Eagle is a very popular PCB layout tool that runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.
EAGLE is an acronym and is properly spelled in all uppercase:
http://google.com/search?q=Easily-Applicable-Graphical-Layout-Editor

Eagle isn't free, though.
It's also infested with DRM: The EAGLE Virus

gewg_

Not sure I'd consider them "world-class", but for most purposes kdenlive is pretty good for video editing under Linux, Eagle is a very popular PCB layout tool that runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.

Eagle is pretty good: http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

For simulation, you can get Spice versions for all platforms.

For the CAD part, there is the EAGLE Light Edition from CadSoft http://www.cadsoftusa.com/freeware.htm It runs on Linux, Windows and Mac.

Here you go, not a kit but plenty to read and learn. This is where I would start and once you understand it, pick a project and build it from scratch.
http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/

Once you have the understanding, you can create printed circuit boards with Eagle (free for non-commercial use)
http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

and have Sparkfun order your PCBs via BatchPCB
http://www.batchpcb.com/

This is how I got into building my own robots, not the ones from kits but scratch build by ordering the parts and doing my own designs.

In terms of schematic capture packages, I've used Eagle from cadsoft (http://www.cadsoftusa.com/ and am very fond of it. The free version will let you do plenty, although I use the profesional version (for work, I didn't buy it myself). There are also free software versions out there, but I haven't used them and can't comment on how well they work, but I'd encourage you to check them out.

(And that's "Printed Circuit Board", not "Polychlorinated Biphenyls"!)

That may be true... this week. But many people said the same sort of thing about Linux, and it's running tons of servers now and is rapidly making inroads on the desktop. Firefox is currently devouring Internet Explorer market share. OpenOffice.org is a great alternative to M$ Office. There are plenty of other examples.

You may be missing the point of open source software. By empowering users, any code that is used is inevitably improved. A critical mass phenomenon occurs where the more users there are, the faster the improvements occur.

EDA is a market that is definitely large enough to prosper as open source, especially given that a large percentage of the EDA users are geeks willing to add to or improve the code. gEDA seems poised to be THE open source EDA solution.

I use the Linux version of Eagle, and I like it. I particularly like the autorouter. But it won't be long until gEDA will have an improved user interface, integrated PCB layout, an autorouter, etc. In other words, it'll be a full featured open source alternative to commercial EDA software, with none of the annual update fees and licensing hassles.

I expected open source software would be free, but I was most impressed by the way open source felt. It's hard to describe, but when I wasn't forced to scroll through a 140 KB end user licensing agreement and then suffer through a lot of copy protection crap during the installation, I felt like the programmers were on my side. I'm not opposed to people making money from software, but open source is a lot friendlier to the user, and that attitude carries over into everyday aspects such as open file formats that make it easier to export and translate data or share my work with other people, as opposed to proprietary data formats designed to lock in customers and ensure a steady revenue stream by maintaining a de facto software standard based solely on marketing.

There are too many advantages of open source for it not to be a dominant force in the immediate future of computing.

If you want free design software, try out Eagle from Cadsoft. They have a free-as-in-beer version for small boards (100x80, two layers), and a cheap license for nonprofit use. Native Linux and MacOS support (their software is written using Qt, so it's pretty easy for them to do.)

I prefer to fire up Eagle's Cadsoft (under Linux!) and generate my own gerber and excellon files. I can then send these files to ANY board house I choose.

When creating 2 layer boards and when I don't need super fine spacing I use Olimex (the lowest cost 2 layer with silk screen and solder mask pcb house I have EVER seen!). When I need 4 more or layers I go with the more expensive PCB Express.

Although I think emachine shop sounds great, you can get much cheaper smaller runs of aluminum panels from Front Panel Express. Their prices are very low and their quality is amazing!

- Rod

Where loved ones are remembered: Memoriam.org

graphic design, electronic circuit design, music composition, genealogy, CAD, Mathematical modelling

Sorry to nit-pick, but - CAD? Electronic circuit design? I'm about to upgrade my EAGLE package in exchange for some $$$ (still much cheaper than most competition and especially Protel, that which I have a hatred for which burns with the power of a thousand suns).

Is there some free stuff worth using I dont' know about? Please tell me it's true! :-)

I forgot to tell that Eagle isn't open souce, but CadSoft have a free (as in beer) lisence.

We use Eagle for all our PCB designs.

Although EasyTrax works (did a couple big boards with it), Eagle is much better and is also free (as in beer) for the non-profit version (limited to one schematic sheet, double sided 3x5 PCB). It has a relatively recent part library, and the nice thing is, the only difference between the "pro" version and the free version is the license file, so you're not using some crusty old unmaintained demo.
It's available for Windows/Linux, so download away...

Here are some links that you may find helpful and/or interesting:

The JoyRider Virtual Flyer

Homebrew Flight Sim Cockpit

Full Motion Flight Simulation Platform

Homemade Flight Simulator

3 Axis Flight Simulator

Also, look for something called the "Rock-N-Ride" - it was a commercial low-cost motion platform, that interfaced to a serial port and used a airbrush compressor for power. It wasn't cheap, but it was cheaper than a real 3 axis platform. I have also seen real 3 axis platforms sold on eBay, but be prepared for hydraulic behemoths (in weight, if not size) that will set you back some.

Now, granted, none of these sites will probably answer your question about what to do in regards to all of the lights, switches, etc. For that, I would suggest looking into PIC or BASIC Stamp interfacing over a "single-wire" serial interface or similar. You could probably also do it with logic circuits and shift register-based systems (to effect a parallel to serial to parallel interface), or use a MAX232 for comm. There is also a guy out there that sells an ethernet -> uPU interface (people have used it to hook old C64's to ethernet, etc).

You could also hook up to the joystick port - in theory you could hook resistors up to get input from both axis's, a different resistor per switch, two joysticks - plus all of the buttons - that is a lot of buttons!

There is also the possibility of using the joystick port as a MIDI port, and comm'ing over that. Also, look up joystick info, there is a method of toggling a bit or so on the joystick port to actually gain a certain low-speed output over the joystick port to allow you to "clock" data from the port - supposedly some "digital" joysticks have done this.

There is always USB - check out Nuts and Volts magazine - there have been articles in the past on the chipsets, etc needed to interface using USB.

I hope this helps...

Linuxmedialabs.com place seems to sell boards, but not for cheap.

You could also buy a standard tvtuner board and use these or these drivers.

They even have a freeware version which is ok for weekend projects.

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/ or http://www.cadsoft.de/

This software is not a toy, it is one of the best pcb design packages available on any platform, and it is reasonably priced. Life is good to us electronics engineers !

They even have a freeware version which is ok for weekend projects.

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/ or http://www.cadsoft.de/

This software is not a toy, it is one of the best pcb design packages available on any platform, and it is reasonably priced. Life is good to us electronics engineers !