I just want to make a comment that not all BS-level undergrad classes
are not teaching how to use different kind of EDA packages for PCB
design. Here it seems like the use of different EDA packages are
standard courses under BSECE or BSEE which is part of the curriculum.
Learning one PCB design software generally gives you an idea how to
easily adjust and work towards the other. It will be much easier for
you to learn how to use other EDA packages if you know how to use one.
All of them use standard features which is easily transferable.
Learning Kicad on the other hand as your first EDA package is very
essential when you start to work for the industries that uses
commercial EDA packages like Protel, OrCAD (Cadence), PADS, P-CAD,
Eagle, etc. because these commercial EDA packages offer more features
but still contains the standard ones that can be found Kicad. So it
means you can easily adapt from Kicad to any of the commercial EDA
packages. You will see that most of the features you are looking for
in Kicad might exist in these commercial ones so learning Kicad is a
valuable part in the process even for a beginner or advance user.
I've been using Protel for 6 years now but when I started to learn
Kicad, P-CAD, OrCAD, etc. several years ago I was able to adapt easily
just by exploring the software itself and this forum doesn't exist yet
so there's no one to ask for help. So you see that learning one EDA
package (any package) is all that you need and explore.
Good luck to you all.
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, "Dan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> First, I have a question: what degree is your son working on? I have
> a BSEE degree from a top state university, and I never did any PCB
> design while in school. This is generally not covered in BS-level
> undergrad classes, and probably not in grad-level classes either.
> It's considered something you pick up on the job, if you need it.
>
> The whole idea of learning one particular software package in
> preparation for a job in industry is ridiculous, IMO. If you shell
> out $25,000 for Orcad or PADS or whatever (!), what happens when you
> apply to a company that uses something different but similarly costly?
> You just wasted $25k! You could have downloaded Kicad (or even
> EAGLE) for free and had the same background: familiarity with a
> different PCB design package that will allow you to come up to speed
> more quickly than someone who's never designed a PCB before. Or were
> you planning on selling your house and purchasing seats for all the
> major PCB programs so your son can have a slight advantage in getting
> an entry-level job paying $50k?
>
> I don't mean to insult you, but I have these dollar figures are giving
> you a bit of sticker shock, because they should. This isn't like
> buying a copy of MS Office (which is still expensive, but not compared
> to EDA software) instead of downloading OpenOffice.org for free. EDA
> software of any kind is usually extremely expensive, if you're a
> private individual on a budget. It's priced for companies who can
> afford to spend tens of thousands on a single software package,
> because that's a lot cheaper than having a team of $200k/year
> engineers (including salary, benefits, etc.) waste their valuable time
> with software that doesn't work as well. If you're just some guy at
> home with an electronics hobby, the idea of purchasing anything more
> "industry standard" than EAGLE (which is not an industry standard
> compared to the high-dollar packages) is just insanity unless you have
> more money than you know what to do with.
>
> On top of all that, companies have a penchant for wasting money on
> software when there's free software available that works better. Look
> how many companies still use Windows for tasks that would be much
> better suited to Linux. (Not all do; take a trip to your local Lowe's
> sometime, and notice that all their terminals actually use a modified
> KDE.) Most big companies have managers who think you get more if you
> pay more, or you need some big company standing behind a product in
> case something goes wrong; these companies don't understand
> open-source/Free software at all. But times are changing. As someone
> else said, those high-dollar PCB packages feature rather clunky
> interfaces designed 30 years ago it seems. I wouldn't be surprised to
> see Kicad match and exceed many of these packages in 3-5 years, and
> for some of them to fall by the wayside. It's not as fast as with
> other Free software, where there's a larger userbase (like office
> software and operating systems), but there's still a decent amount of
> users here, and a decent amount of people who can help with software
> development. In addition, lots of people make their own parts
> libraries and contribute these back, which takes a lot of work out of
> designing a PCB. Personally, I'd like to see Kicad include more of
> these in the default distribution rather than hav
