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Schematic/PCB Design for Linux?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the for-future-hardware-manufacturers dept.

VanessaDannenberg asks: "Occasionally, I have been known to design the occasional circuit board. I've been using Eagle, but with the board size limit of 3x4 inches in the free version, and a $400 price tag to exceed this limit, it is time to consider a Free Open Source Software alternative. Not being a Linux programmer myself, I have checked into and ruled out gEDA, KiCAD, Electric, XCircuit, and a host of others as being too incomplete to replace Eagle. My requirements are pretty basic: Draw a schematic, make a board out of it, edit and autoroute it, export to Gerber, and do it all natively within Linux. So, with this in mind, what suggestions do you folks have?"

3 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. This is what pisses me off... by RingDev · · Score: 4, Insightful

    about the whole open source movement.

    "$400 price tag to exceed this limit, it is time to consider a Free Open Source Software alternative."

    So in other words, you're not willing to pay the programmers who support their families for this product, and you are not willing to donate anything to an Open Source project.

    You sir, are a leech. You want a product for free, not because of a moral issue, a desire for community support, accessible developers, or any other OS reason. No, you want an OS product because your greedy little heart wants something for free.

    -Rick

    A little over the top? maybe, but I've had a crappy week. I'm going to go home, get drunk, and forget the last 4 Mondays.

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  2. Time to evaluate what your time is worth by stevesliva · · Score: 4, Insightful
    When I find myself using some crappy free version of software that I know I can just buy, I often just wish I'd spent the money and saved the time.

    If you're designing PCBs, $400 should be chump change-- right? I'm used to EDA packages that cost well over six figures per seat.

    --
    Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
  3. It's probably not for a hobby by technoextreme · · Score: 4, Informative

    Reading Eagle's website I realized that they actualy offer a cheaper (Read $125.00) version for people who are using Eaglecad for non-profit purposes.

    --
    Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.