gEDA-user: Re: GTK-based PCB

[John Griessen <john_g@xxxxxxxxxx>]

There's another good benefit of using GTK.  Most volunteer created
code like PCB is a little serpentine out of practical time-management by the
free-publishing developers, so that is not a stopper for new developers.  The
GUI is a big thing for attracting new developers.  The Xaw GUI probably was a
stopper for many potential new-developers past.

Now, new developers can easily make alternate front-ends in parallel with the
existing one, to suit their fancy.  Then, with more GUI approaches to running
PCB functions, more of the range of board layout folk on the planet
could use the underlying functions in a way that they
could wrap there minds around.

A current GUI is also a nice organization tool for potential new developers
to find hooks into functionally separate parts of the code
and understand it faster.

John Griessen

PS  I've used several kinds of layout tools -- Cadence, Mentor, Eagle,
EEDesigner, Protel.  PCB is good by being open.  The learning curves for all
those were steep.  The learning curve for layout is steep for most to get to a
point where they are efficient...such as using Gattrib and placing repeated
element groups.  Raw speed of placing primitives is not what creates layout
quickest usually.  Reuse of layout chunks and schematic chunks gives huge gains,
and this is not even usually advantaged in chip or board layout because of
separation of responsibility for "engineering" and "drafting".  PCB and gschem
are available to those who do both in an integrated way, and if we add those
features that help that workflow style, we'll be ahead of all the rest...fancy
libraries or not...at least for boards/systems that make sense for small workgroups.

Dave McGuire wrote:
> On Jun 2, 2005, at 3:12 PM, Terry Porter wrote:
> 
>> Opinions differ :)
>>
>> I disagree.
>>
>> I absolutely *love* PCB and have been using it for least several
>> years.
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>   I have to voice my agreement here.  I've been largely silent on this
> list since my loud whining about the GTK port and potential portability
> issues, because I've been very busy.  My non-Linux GTK issues have been
> solved (I think I did mention that some time ago) and I'm now running
> the PCB GTK port with great satisfaction.

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>             -Dave