Re: gEDA-user: Notes from this evening's Free Dog meeting

[Wojciech Kazubski <wk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello!
I tried to build Kicad one year ago and got no success.
It required latest development version of wxWidgets

Wojciech Kazubski

> > > Finally, Kicad doesn't build nicely, i.e. it doesn't use the
> > > GNU build system (i.e. configure etc.),=20
> >
> > wxWindows programs typically use Bakefiles to build they makefiles.
> > So it might be a simple mater to change the Bakefile template.
>
> We would probably agree about the detailed tricks used to build Kicad.
> However, the big-picture issue involves just how much of a hacker-god
> you need to be in order to do this!
>
> First off, you need to install
> system dependencies wxWidgets  and Mesa3D before you build Kicad.
> This usually requires root privelidges.  Secondly, neither of these
> dependencies use a standard build method.  In fact, you must edit the
> Makefiles to build them.  Thirdly, the same is true of Kicad itself:
> You must hand edit the Makefiles to build the program & have it run
> correctly.
>
> Experienced unix geeks can do this -- although I failed to get it
> fully working before our meeting last night.  Thank goodness Ales had
> successfully built the program from sources before showing up last
> night!
>
> My point is this: If your program requires guru-level programming
> ability to install -- and involves hand-editing of Makefiles amongst
> other tricks -- it's a non-starter for newbies.
>
> Stuart