Re: gEDA-user: PCB suggestion

[DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

IMHO changing the file format to XML (1) makes pcb far more complex
than it needs to be, and (2) offers no useful benefits.  Given that
pcb already has two file parsers (one is generic, one for current and
older pcb files) and will always *need* the current pcb file parser
(for backwards compatibility), you will never REPLACE the parser with
XML, you will only ADD a parser for XML.

To add an XML parser, we'd need to either (1) write one (waste of
time), (2) copy an existing one (then keep it up to date forever) or
(3) link against an installed one (causing user confusion and
complexity).  Are any of these worth the effort, just to change from a
pcb-specific ASCII file to a pcb-ignorant ASCII file?

Given the above, I wouldn't recommend anyone with time on their hands
go out and try to wedge an XML system into PCB.  Without a really good
benefit to offset the problems, and without a valid discourse to
debate and select a course of action that will benefit pcb for a long
time, it's likely that such a patch will not be accepted.  (and no,
it's not my decision).

If you've got time on your hands and you want to work on PCB, ask
Harry or Dan which of the many bugs and feature requests residing on
sourceforge most need attention.