John, I agree with your comments. I have used Windows, Linux and OS X in that ord= er, and now I use mostly OS X with Parallels for Desktop to run virtual mac= hines for Windows 8.1, Ubuntu and Debian, and an experimental VM for Androi= d. For me it is an easy choice, as I do not have profit concern anymore.=20 I am retired, so I can be choosy about the software I use. I used a lot of = commercial software in my past working life, including Protel which was bou= ght by Altium. I did not like Altium Designer, so I looked at alternatives.= Cadence Allegro, Mentor Graphics are great products, but way overpriced, a= nd still full of bugs, but large companies can afford them as they have goo= d support(expensive).=20 I used Eagle for a while in a smaller company, but was not impressed. The p= ro version is OK, but the free version is hugely limited for small boards w= ith limit of 200 parts, 30 square inch size and 2 layers max. I never really liked gEDA, too clumsy to use and too slow for my taste. gED= A support for Windows is experimental, and I did not try it on OS X, as I d= on=92t use fink. Maybe I will have to try to build it from source as I rout= inely do for Kicad. I had used kicad (late 90=92s if i remember) in the past for home project, = and it was fairly easy, but limited. So 5 years ago, I gave it another tria= l, as it was taking traction, and the developer team was really working har= d to make it multi OS. Then SoftPLC and CERN started to support it, and now= it leave Eagle, and gEDA in the dust. I do not use yet the 3D capability, = but it is there and improving also. Some people are working on adding an interface for simulation.=20 When I switched to Apple for my home machine (Macbook pro w/ Retina display= ), I built the OS X version of kicad, and will keep it as my main PCB desig= n tool. I think that KiCad deserves all the help it can get, and will be a great as= set for PCB design. My $0.02, Jean-Paul AC9GH On Sep 8, 2014, at 7:48 AM, John J. McDonough wrote: > On Sun, 2014-09-07 at 21:08 -0400, Jean-Paul Louis wrote: >=20 >> Very often, it is as good or better as closed source commercial >> software, but lack the paid support that commercial software use >> to make more money. But the developers keep improving it, and AFAIK, >> I will never use closed software again, but will support a product >> like kicad to the extent of my possibilities. >=20 > Being a former corporate I/T guy, I wouldn't go so far as to say 'I will > never use closed software again', I understand the advantages. But I > don't see a situation where that will happen ;) >=20 > I see two main differences between closed and open source. >=20 > Open source developers add features people need. Closed source > providers add features they think they can sell. Quite often there is a > gulf between the two. >=20 > Open source software has a greater tendency to be compatible across > versions. Incompatible versions are only released when there is a huge > need recognized by the community, and even then, someone will probably > fork the project to come up with a compatible release. Closed source > providers will make incompatible releases in the hopes of generating > sales for the new version. >=20 > Confession: I am a Fedora contributor. >=20 > --McD >=20 >=20 > --=20 > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .