> On Feb 17, 2017, at 2:35 PM, Noel Chiappa <j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
>
> ...
>> From: Guy Sotomayor Jr
>
>> In terms of community supplied libraries, Eagle has those too and I've
>> found that by and large they are junk (it's easier/quicker for me to
>> create a part on my own
>> ... While I haven't seen a lot of KiCAD contributed libraries (that's
>> part of the problem)
>
> KiCAD came with a fairly large set of user-contributed libraries. For various
> reasons (including working with archaic parts), I've wound up adding quite a
> few, but i've usally found it pretty easy to modify an exising part from the
> libraries, to get what I need. YMMV.
One thing I learned with Eagle (an old version -- I started with it on DOS,
with a physical license dongle) is that you can define library stuff via
scripting. This is very helpful when defining 120-pin PCB footprints.
I don't remember precisely, but I think you can export libraries from Eagle in
some sort of text form. If that's true, then it would be SMOP to write a KiCAD
library importer. The key question is whether the library semantics are
compatible. EAGLE is rather nice in the way it handles schematic symbols vs.
footprints and all that.
I used EAGLE long ago for one project, and more recently for another, but I
haven't found it sufficiently useful to buy it a second time to get the
non-free version. Not that I really need the autorouter, it isn't really all
that useful. But still, it's pretty steep for a hobbyist. I discovered KiCAD,
haven't used it yet, should give it a try.
One nice aspect of EAGLE is that a number of PCB fab shops will accept EAGLE
*.BRD files directly, rather than asking for Gerber and drill files.
paul
