You know what it would be nice for KiCad to release? Binaries.
I've gotten into several discussions with KiCad users, but it always comes down to me saying "This is marketed as cross-platform, how do I install it on Mac OS?" "Oh I don't know, I just apt-get it."
Well, great. I'm glad EAGLE's got some competition on the Linux side, but seriously, how do I install KiCad on the Mac? The Mac link on the KiCad site, which you would assume would take you to a binary, instead drops you on a github project for a build script that hasn't been updated in six months. This is the point at which my electrical engineer friends give up. The script requires you to manually install a bunch of dependancies, and upload an SSH key to Launchpad.
Ok, well, can I use Homebrew? No, KiCad doesn't release stable versions either, and brew won't accept HEAD-only recipes or whatever they call them.
So, I'm a little at a loss. I'm an actual EE, and I love the /idea/ of KiCad, and I'd love to actually try it, but it seems like you need to be a software engineer just to install this electrical engineering tool. This makes the barrier to entry unacceptably high, and I think works against what they're aiming for. KiCad already has a terrible reputation - every conversation I have about it with KiCad users is along the line of "It's much better now," "It doesn't crash nearly as much," "CERN has a guy working on it full time!" I think they're really shooting themselves in the foot here by not even releasing stable versions. Anyone know what's up with the project?
I've gotten into several discussions with KiCad users, but it always comes down to me saying "This is marketed as cross-platform, how do I install it on Mac OS?" "Oh I don't know, I just apt-get it."
Well, great. I'm glad EAGLE's got some competition on the Linux side, but seriously, how do I install KiCad on the Mac? The Mac link on the KiCad site, which you would assume would take you to a binary, instead drops you on a github project for a build script that hasn't been updated in six months. This is the point at which my electrical engineer friends give up. The script requires you to manually install a bunch of dependancies, and upload an SSH key to Launchpad.
Ok, well, can I use Homebrew? No, KiCad doesn't release stable versions either, and brew won't accept HEAD-only recipes or whatever they call them.
So, I'm a little at a loss. I'm an actual EE, and I love the /idea/ of KiCad, and I'd love to actually try it, but it seems like you need to be a software engineer just to install this electrical engineering tool. This makes the barrier to entry unacceptably high, and I think works against what they're aiming for. KiCad already has a terrible reputation - every conversation I have about it with KiCad users is along the line of "It's much better now," "It doesn't crash nearly as much," "CERN has a guy working on it full time!" I think they're really shooting themselves in the foot here by not even releasing stable versions. Anyone know what's up with the project?