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Re: gEDA-user: FUNDING
At 10:12 AM 12/15/2010, you wrote:
I'm not sure about the 'base64' stuff, this is
google's 'rich text format'Â some people prefer
plain text on the mailing list so I've sent this straight to you.
Hope its a bit easier to read.
Thanks for the reply. I'm not clear on what you
did differently. I have the run together line
problem wiht Kaimartin and a couple of other
folks here. I need to switch to a new email app,
but I am not inclinded to do that until I have
some serious down time. My email client is a
very integral part of my work and even my life in
a sense. I use email to organize nearly
everything I do and changing apps will likely
have a major adjustment period for me. So maybe
after the new year I'll be able to communicate with this group a bit better.
>> Negotiating with IEEE is a good idea. ...
>> but I'd ask them to put links to our
website, or give them lectures about the
>> project.
> I think working with the IEEE is a good idea.
...
> Â I am the chair of the IEEE consultants network in Washington, DC.
I apologise for being flippant in my previous
message - it's amazing who is listening! A talk
would be great, I am unsure who is near
Washington (anyone?) - the developers are very
geographically distributed. Â (part of the
amazing world of open source development!)Â I
would be happy to put forward case studies &
images, if a potential speaker wanted it.
I don't recall seeing anything flippant.
 Would you consider a web cast?
Anything offered would be welcome. Many of the
consultants in the DC area are not hands on
engineers like myself. But there are a number
and any way we can reach them would be good. I
personally am about 50 miles outside of DC and am
just as close to Baltimore. So anything with do
with the DC section can also be done with the
Baltimore section. I can also try to contact
other chapters and work with them as well. I
think most Consultants Network chapters always
welcome all contributions. In fact, I think "welcome" is putting it mildly.
> I'm not sure how you might go  about getting
money from them for FOSS development,
> but there might be something available.
 I have more experience with the IET in the UK,
who sometimes have grants and things available,
 but have trouble advertising them!
I have no experience with finding funding from
IEEE, but we can try to establish some contacts who know the ropes better.
> Â We would be interested in working with anyone here to help
> promote gEDA to the rest of IEEE. Â
Specifically, we would be happy to host a
> presentation if someone would like to tell our group about gEDA and why
> consultants should be interested in supporting the project.
gEDA (& FOSS in general) is powerful for
consultants and small companies, Â for example I
can support designs indefinitely - knowing that
I won't have to suddenly pay for a license fee
for software that I might no longer use, just to
access my own design! Compare this to a
proprietary tool, where an instant fee would be
required for theslightest change even years
after I stop using that software for new designs.
I have that problem with the FPGA tools I
use. But it doesn't stop me from working in
general. I can always get the license renewed to
let me work, but I don't continue to get
updates. Still, if I forget to renew the license
and want to work on a project over the weekend, I
am stuck until Monday. This has happened many times.
> Â I can introduce the group to some of the local IEEE bodies and explore
> the possibilities available for funding.
I can't really speak for the development team,
but this sounds awesome to me! gEDA is a
community driven project for engineers and by
engineers - this really does make it a bit
special. Â The fact is that I find it has many
qualities that are lacking in even the most
expensive EDA tools. Â Check out Peter C's open
GL pcb branch to see some amazing looking PCB layout tools!
What would be the next steps?
To the developers: Â How would you like to proceed?
Like I said, I don't know what can be done in
that regard, but we can explore. One thought is
to organize a technical group devoted to open
source technology. Hmmm... actually that might
be a really good idea! How many gEDA users are
there in the Washington/Baltimore area I
wonder. I bet we can pull a number of them out
of the woodwork with a well publicized
presentation on open source tools and technology.
> I would offer to be a spokesperson for gEDA,
but I know little about it. Â I
> am here to try to learn.
The learning curve can be steep at times; I
think that this is because the workflow is a
little more UNIX-like. Â Stick with it if you
can, learning gEDA gave me a better
understanding of other tools too, so I hope
you'll find it worthwhile. There is also a
kind of exhilarating  feeling to knowing that
the gEDA isn't going to limit you, Â that is to
say that there are no 'edges' - if you have the
skills and the time (thought it could even mean
delving into the code!) anything conceivable can be done!
That is one of the stated advantages of using
open source. Personally, I prefer to use my
tools rather than developing them. I try to
contribute in different ways than
coding. Libraries are one way. Documentation is
another. I have begun a wiki/FAQ for FreePCB for example.
Rick
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