kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Dick Hollenbeck <dick@...>]

Mateusz wrote:
> > These discussions usually lead nowhere until you have a qualified 
> > developer in hand with about a man-month to actually do the coding.
> >
> >
> > I would start there. Only then does finalizing a design make most 
> > sense. Otherwise it will end up being a wish list that gets forgotten 
> > in 30 days.
> >
> > I don't think we want to make this email list into a "wishlist graveyard".
> >
> > So recruit first, then design, then code. That is my suggestion.
> >
> >
> > Dick
>
> I think you are right! The list is a big "wishlist graveyard".
>
> The thing is some things can be done in many different way and
> we waste a lot of time just discussing them. At the end it is really
> hard to collect some people to actually do it.
>
> As you said, the best way to solve this problem will be to create a "taskforce".
> Group of people capable to do at least 7 hours of coding per week under the supervision of a leader (someone with a lot of experience and access to svn). Leader should moderate the discussion and make the plan, then he should check the work of others and commit it to svn.
>
> So is there anyone from experienced kicad developers who would like to lead the group named "web based repository"?
>
> Are there any developers (with enough free time) willing to help him?
>
> If not, then there is no point in discussing it at all!


I am interested in this subject and already have enough ideas in my head 
to complete a full design and an implementation. My design uses a 
formalized API within a plug-in architecture, so it would inherently 
support more than one implementation where each was housed in a separate 
DLL/so. The key is get the API correct.


Sometime in the next week or so I will put some thoughts onto this list 
about it.


In the mean time, it would be helpful for us to put on our user's hats 
and try and agree on what is wrong with Kicad part management from a 
user perspective. If we cannot agree on what is wrong as users, we will 
never agree on what a fix looks like.


So what is wrong *from a user perspective* ?


The original user posting stated he wanted to be able to easily modify 
the stock libraries, and that to do so he had to copy them to a 
different place. Well this mis-understands the entire Kicad 
philosophy. New parts go into your personal library, but you can edit 
an existing part as a starting point. So I don't even agree with the 
original poster from last year.

Only after we can reach agreement on what is wrong, is there any point 
in talking about file formats and databases, which are solutions. 

Solutions should be brought in only after problems are identified, 
enumerated, and documented in a safe persistent place.

Dick