Actually, I've often thought that we should advertise gEDA
to the big
chip guys as a method to distribute reference designs --
schematics,
layouts, and Gerbers.
I think one good way to approach this would be to pitch
the *file format*, not the software...at first. The industry
has proven that it will standardize on file formats (witness
Gerber RS-274X) if they work well. Granted the Gerber format
(as far as I know) really became well-accepted because
equipment that used it was popular, but I'm not sure that
matters all that much.
Hmm, I dunno...it's a half-baked idea.