Re: gEDA-user: fritzing

[Dave McGuire <mcguire@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On May 10, 2009, at 6:43 AM, Chris Smith wrote:
> I find it ironic that the FOSS community is so outspoken on the  
> evils of
> vendor lock-in, but will happily accept it if it forces people to use
> FOSS OS's.  In my eyes, forcing people to install Linux to use  
> $TOOL is
> no less evil that forcing people to install Windows to use MS Office.

   Then I respectfully submit that you need glasses. :)

   First...What operating system "vendor" is gEDA locking people into?

   Second...Remember that we have an open and documented file  
format.  This alone should eliminate any concern of vendor lock-in  
(even if there were a vendor involved) with gEDA.

> I am about to start work on a project with another engineer who uses
> Windows.  I would dearly love to use gEDA for this project, however I
> respect his choice of OS and thus we will be forced to use something
> like Eagle instead.

   Yes, but look at the bigger picture.  He's most likely using  
Windows because someone (his boss perhaps?) forced HIM to.  I don't  
know *anyone* who actually chooses to use Windows because they prefer  
it over their other choices.

   And, that said, there's nothing preventing the vendor of Eagle  
(into whom your new project will presumably be locked) from writing  
gEDA file format I/O into their software to facilitate  
interoperability...but you know as well as I do that interoperability  
is the last thing proprietary software vendors want.

            -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL



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