kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Javier Serrano <javier.serrano.pareja@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 10:08 PM, Lorenzo Marcantonio
<l.marcantonio@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 09:19:02PM +0100, Tomasz Wlostowski wrote:
>> Why don't you write a one A4-page long blueprint, discuss it on the list,
>> and if your time permits, code the thing?
>
> It was discussed a while ago on the list... something like 'class A has
> clearance 0.2 with class A but clearance 5 with class B'. And
> distinction for inner layers (both thermal and electrical properties are
> different). IIRC it was suggested for striplines and things, the big
> issue was how to present a GUI for such a thing and avoid combinatorial
> explosion.

I think it would be very good if people started submitting proposals
in the form of short documents which can serve as a basis for
discussion, preliminary approval by the main devs and development.
Orson's proposal for the ratsnest [1] is a good example. Its
submission to this list triggered very relevant feedback in a quick
and efficient way, so Orson started development on the right foot.
Blueprints of this type should be seen as a contribution to the
project in themselves, and we at CERN plan to start writing some in
the beginning of next year, and try to find volunteers to do the
coding, once they are pre-approved of course.

Of course I think *any* kind of feedback and contribution is good, but
I also think these slightly-more-formal short proposal documents can
help KiCad greatly. Whenever somebody pops up and offers to help,
he/she can be pointed to the pile and asked to pick one. It's also
great to see what each developer is currently up to. Sometimes it is
hard to tell just from the mailing list messages.

Just my opinion, and thank you very much for your very constructive
feedback so far. Cheers,

Javier

[1] http://www.ohwr.org/projects/cern-kicad/wiki/Ratsnest-gal