[sdiy] PCB/Schematic software

[David Ingebretsen]

Ahem.... David, you do know me, and I consider myself a "professional" :) at
least in my day job.

I went to Open Office a couple of years ago from Word Perfect and MS Office
and haven't looked back. Granted, my work product is pretty mundane and
doesn't get much more complicated that text and a few pictures in a report.
That said, Open Office was a Godsend and in my opinion blows MS Office out
of the water for ease of use and stability.

On the other hand, at Evans & Sutherland, we only used the Gnu C complier
for all our work, as well as emacs, LaTex, etc. It was by far the best and
most stable compiler out there. The GNU Free Software Foundation has a lot
of top notch software available. 

I agree with your point that there is value in the time required to design,
write, debug, and support software that deserves compensation and
protection.

It is and should only be up to the creator whether or not the product is
offered for free or exchange for something else of "value".

Otherwise, in other parts of my work, I simply don't have time to massage
another's "free" software into what I need or develop it myself.

David 

>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl [mailto:synth-diy-
>>> bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of David G Dixon
>>> Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 1:29 PM
>>> To: 'Graheme Wilson'
>>> Cc: 'Andre Majorel'; synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>> Subject: Re: [sdiy] PCB/Schematic software
>>> 
>>> > The open source community develops the software that they
>>> > need. The developers being users as well understand exactly
>>> > what is required. This model works because it :
>>> >
>>> > + provides a community to support and train users users tell
>>> > others in
>>> > + their profession and the word spreads users have the source
>>> > code and
>>> > + can modify it their requirements cuts out software piracy
>>> > challenges
>>> > + the need for software patents
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > I discovered Linux in 1995 and having been using it ever
>>> > since. however I also use Apple Macs for music and web and MS
>>> > Windows for music.There is a staggering amount of good
>>> > quality free (as in free beer) software available for Linux
>>> > and some of it like Inkscape (vector graphics- like Adobe
>>> > Illustrator) Gnu Gimp (pixels - like Photoshop) and Open
>>> > Office (like MS Office) run on all three of these platforms.
>>> 
>>> Sounds great.  As I said, if you're young, probably unmarried, almost
>>> certainly unburdened by children or homeownership, then working for next
to
>>> nothing on stuff that you're passionate about is a great way of life
(one
>>> that I envy, frankly).
>>> 
>>> Having said that, I must say that I've been somewhat less than impressed
>>> with Open Office (which my wife has on her PC).  It has far less
>>> functionality than MS Office.  In fact, I can't think of a single
>>> "professional" person of my acquaintance who doesn't use MS Office.
>>> 
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