[volt-nuts] PCB Artist

[Attila Kinali]

On Tue, 13 Dec 2016 19:17:17 -0500
NeonJohn <jgd at neon-john.com> wrote:

> > If you don't have any personal preference, then
> > KiCad is definitely the way to go. It has improved
> > dramatically since it got the CERN treatment and
> > doesn't cost a cent regardless of size and layers.
> 
> Indeed.  I am just about to pull the trigger on KiCAD company-wide.  I
> think it is ready for the kind of work we do (4 layer boards, some with
> high current/voltage traces).  The only thing holding me back IS our
> investment in IP.  Maybe with Eagle 7 using XML for data storage,
> someone will write an Eagle to KiCAD converter.

What you have in schematics and layout does not matter that much,
if you have the money to keep an Eagle license around. In my experience
the only IP that matters are reviewed and known good schematic symbol
and footprint libraries. Schematics and layouts of circuits that are
more than a couple of years old are only worth as a reference for the
new design. New devices come so quickly that a design done 5 years ago
would look very different if done today. And often with better performance
and cheaper too.


				Attila Kinali
-- 
It is upon moral qualities that a society is ultimately founded. All 
the prosperity and technological sophistication in the world is of no 
use without that foundation.
                 -- Miss Matheson, The Diamond Age, Neil Stephenson