gEDA-user: is gEDA a good choice for designers?

["Duncan Drennan" <duncan.drennan@xxxxxxxxx>]

I decided to give gEDA a go as my design tool for a project (I've
previously used PCAD and ORCAD), but now that I'm about to put pen to
paper I'm questioning whether using gEDA is a good long term solution.
I'm an electronic engineer and currently contract out my skills, so
the solution needs to satisfy my commercial needs.

The most important thing to me is how long it will take me to learn
gEDA, and whether learning it is a good choice in the long term. One
of my worries is that at some point I'll need functions and
interoperability that gEDA can't provide, and then I'll have to move
to a commercial tool.

My other concern is interacting with other professionals. I prefer to
only do the schematic capture, and then pass the PCB layout onto
someone else (as it is time consuming, and there are more productive
things for me to do). I'm concerned that gEDA may make this process
more difficult.

Reading comments like, "This document and gnetlist in general are
pretty ALPHA, so keep that in mind as you use it to generate
netlists." (http://www.geda.seul.org/wiki/geda:gnetlist_ug) don't help
to ease ones mind when making an important design decision.

So what do you think? If you were in a situation of choosing a design
flow solution that you plan to use for a couple of years, what would
you choose?

(on a separate note, if you are experienced with pcb, and interested
in doing layout, let me know what your hourly rate is).

Regards,
Duncan


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