Re: gEDA-user: HW vs SW tools evolution

[Eric Brombaugh <ebrombaugh1@xxxxxxx>]

John Griessen wrote:
> How has SW design gotten farther?  Probably it's just that the development of tools is so close to the development
> of apps for sale is all I can think of.

This is an excellent point. It's a lot easier for someone in their spare 
time to develop usable software. It's a lot more expensive to develop a 
usable chip. I can sit in my office and for the cost of a computer and 
an internet connection code up an embedded software project in my spare 
time that brings in some cash. I can't build an IC.

Imagine how difficult it would be to develop software if every time you 
wanted to test your code you had to spend thousands of dollars and wait 
three months.

FPGA development tools are just now getting to the point where this 
isn't such a PITA, but even so the proprietary nature of the bare metal 
will interfere with open source ethos.

The true revolution won't come until someone can build a 3D printer that 
can print a copy of itself.

Eric


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