Re: Orcad vs. Open Source


The Orcad file format is closed and I can't do anything to try to fix
this problem. The FreePCB file format, in contrast, is open and very
readable. I can view it to see what is going on although I only did
that when I started using the tool and didn't understand some things
about it.

By FreePCB are you referring to the "PCB" program from the geda suite?

I thought about using an open source schematic editor when I started
this project, but I didn't want to take the hit on the learning curve
and I did not have a lot of confidence in a new tool (to me) not
screwing up. Looks like I got that anyway.

I am currently working on a hobby project and I am using that opportunity to get acquainted with gschem and pcb. I thought about using
kicad for both functions (schematic capture and layout) but gschem and
pcb were lighter (memory foot print wize) and I had some experience
using pcb for earlier projects

Thats what I love about the open source tools - the outputs are ascii
files you can edit and process. Hell, I can print it out and save it
as a check against losing the file on the harddrive
.

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