Re: gEDA-user: Another free schematic/PCB tool

[Kevin Vermeer <reemrevnivek@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 2:53 PM, Gareth Edwards
<gareth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Some free-as-in-beer capture and layout software has been released by
> RS Components:
>
> http://www.designspark.com/pcb
>
> On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 2:56 PM, DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> You have to sign up for their spam to enable the software, though.

This came up back in early June.  I read the first line of the article
here - http://www.eeproductcenter.com/embedded/brief/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225702306#
- which claims:
"The first fully featured PCB design tool available free of charge to
all without limitation is the claim made by RS Components for
DesignSpark PCB. "
Unfortunately, after reading further:

- It's not the first at all - gEDA came out a long time ago, and some
other PCB design tools are even older.

- It's not free....it just doesn't cost any money.

- It's not without limitations, you have to join the DesignSpark
community, and give them your:
 >Email address,
 >First and last name,
 >Company, and
 >Job Role
so they can better sell their ads to you.


Regardless, I installed it (On Windows, there is no Mac/*nix option)
and gave it a quick run-through, and found that:
-It asked if I wanted to update automatically, and I said no. I am
confident of this-it gave me a window describing how to manually
update later. It then proceeded to update automatically anyways. I
closed it, and thought I'd try again, but subsequently, opening the
program caused the update check window to open, then the splash screen
was displayed, then the update happened, (this all takes about 3 times
as long as opening Eagle, or 12 seconds) and then...
-It opened not one but two windows. This would be OK if it was a
useful controller window and the main app or something like that, but
instead it's just this popup: http://imgur.com/jwKyZ.png which does
nothing except display the DesignSpark logo and provide a link to
their homepage. This window must be closed with the button before
focus can proceed to the software. Ctrl-W and Alt-F4 failed to close
it (OK, alt-F4 closed the whole program, but that wasn't the desired
result.)
-It's ugly - Grayish-tan toolbars with with low-contrast brown/tan
buttons.  CAD tools have never been known for their beautiful graphics
(Until Andrew's recent icon set :), but this is nasty.
-When adding parts, only the part number, symbol, and footprint can be
displayed - No descriptions or common names. Also, no grouping of
parts within categories - Every brand drops their components in their
own library, scroll to or search for the exact part number (No
wildcard search, even - just "Contains")

After this experience, I removed it with Add/Remove programs (there
was no uninstaller). It graciously emptied, but did not remove, the
"DesignSpark PCB" folder it had placed (without my knowledge or
approval) in the My Documents folder.

The only good news is that, after I removed my DesignSpark membership,
they haven't sent me any more spam.
--
Kevin Vermeer


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