Re: advice on selecting new PCB design package

I've looked at gEDA as well, and compared to PCAD, which I use, it is near
unusable. I'd love to get rid of annual maintenance fees like everyone else,
but switching to GEDA will definitely be a step backwards in productivity
for me.

OTOH anyone who uses one of these packages for commercial work should not
really be concerned about up front cost and maintenance fees and such, IMHO.
It's a business expense like anything else, and you amortize the initial
purchase cost over a few contracts, and maintenance should really be covered
by one medium sized job.

Even a low cost EDA package like Cadsoft's Eagle pretty much blows gEDA out
of the water. Their professional package at US$1200 seems to be a vary fair
deal. One design job takes care of that....... They don't seem to list
maintenance fees, so I can't comment on that, but even at say US$300/year,
that cost can easily be covered by one small design job per year.....

That does not mean that I'll never consider switching, but gEDA has a loong
ways to go before it'll be mature enough to be considered as a serious
contender.

I DO like the concept of course, and wish the developers all the best in
their endeavors.

Lukas



I said "well known companies".................

And gEDA ain't gaining "traction" in the commercial world. OK, tell me
some points about gEDA that would attract me to use it instead of one
of the standard paid-for products..... And don't tell me it's free.
The fact that it's free is paradoxically a deterent to a serious user.

Prescott



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