19 Feb
2017
19 Feb
'17
2:22 p.m.
On Feb 19, 2017, at 9:01 AM, Holm Tiffe <holm at
freibergnet.de> wrote:
Nevertheless, I don't think that I want to push you to use KiCad,
but you _really_ should change your attitude about it. This isn't really
playing stuff for kids anymore..
I previously paid about $1,500 for the top tier of Eagle for use at home on my Mac. When
they briefly sprung network licensing on us around version 6 or so, I decided to try out
KiCad. I now use KiCad not only for my home projects, but also every day for real product
design in my job; on my Mac at home, and under Linux at work. It's not quite on par
with Windows based $20k/seat tools I've used before yet, but it's more than good
enough for the kinds of designs I'm doing. And it's continually improving. And it
frees up $20k more of my boss's money to spend on test equipment and prototyping. And
it never needs to phone home to a license server.
I am curious to see what Autodesk does with Eagle, though. I use Fusion 360 both at home
and work (on my personal MacBook at work since it doesn't run under Linux), and good
integration between Eagle and Fusion 360 could be very compelling. But I really don't
like cloud based software as a service, and I only grudgingly use Fusion 360 because
there's no viable 3D CAD/CAM competition that I know of in its very low price range.
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/