[time-nuts] OT: Eagle PC CAD now Autodesk, $500/year

[Peter Reilley]

Might I suggest KiCAD?   It is free and open source.   It is developed 
by CERN (https://home.cern/) and
a community of developers.   There are no size limits and it does 
everything that Eagle does.   Available for
Windows and Linux.   CERN uses it in-house and they do a lot of unusual 
projects as you might imagine.
http://kicad-pcb.org/

I had used Eagle and liked it but have moved over to KiCAD after the 
buy-out.

Pete.

On 1/20/2017 11:58 AM, Bob Camp wrote:
> Hi
>
> I completely agree that their spin at acquisition and the reality of what just came out
> is completely amazing. They said they would never do this and that. What they are doing
> is exactly what they said they would not do.
>
> It’s a rare board that I do in < 4 layers. It’s also quite normal to have designs above
> 160 CM^2. If I have 4 layers, there *will* be signals on all those layers. That puts me
> squarely in the $500 / yr subscription. A month ago that put me in a perpetual license
> that I paid < 1/2 that for.
>
> It is not just that the cost has gone up. A number of license “categories” have vanished.
> The free version is still there, and just as useless for what I do. That’s about the only
> one that is rational at this point.
>
> So yes, I’m at least as bothered by this as anybody else. What I would suggest is to
> take a deep breath, sit back, yell at them a bit (along with everybody else that has
> a license) and see what they do. It is abundantly clear that they have a major disconnect
> between this and what they have said. There is a lot of explaining for them to do. Part of that
> could easily be another couple license categories. I’m certainly in no hurry to switch
> packages.
>
> Right now Fusion 360 is something I use a LOT  more than I use Eagle. This week (month .. year)
> it is free for me to do that. Why is Fusion free to a basement guy and Eagle pay?
> That’s not at all clear. Fusion is buggy as can be. Eagle needs some updates. Both
> have a lot of development $$$ that they will be sucking up. Yes that has to get paid
> for. It’s not clear that a revenue stream based on hobbyists paying $500 a year
> is rational. My guess is Autodesk will figure that out. They may abandon the whole
> basement thing, they may not …. we’ll see.
>
> Bob
>
>
>> On Jan 19, 2017, at 10:52 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist <richard at karlquist.com> wrote:
>>
>> Off topic, but probably a lot of disgrunted Eagle users on this list.
>> Its official, you will now have to pay $500 per year for a
>> professional license from Autodesk.  The spin meistering of the
>> announcement would make George Orwell proud.  I don't see any way they
>> can keep me from just using the license I currently own, at least
>> on the OS's it supports.  (Parenthetically, like many users, I
>> am also digging in my heels in terms of staying at Windows 7).
>>
>> Still, the question arises:  are there any affordable alternatives?
>> Don't have to be entirely free.  I am looking for any trends out
>> there as to what tool will attract a critical mass of users in
>> the future.  There is strength in numbers.
>>
>> Comments?
>>
>> Rick N6RK
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