kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Stefano Rossi <chimera.stefano@xxxxxxxxx>]

Firstly I would like to point out I am not a kicad developer, but more of
an interested individual on KiCADs success.

When I hear that UI refinement is not necessary. I cringe. It is devoid of
any logical thinking and consistency. Each and every one of the kicad
programs has its own way of doing things. I read that Wayne says it isn't
important to have "fancy" menus and shortcuts are better. That is just
making a program for your own use, an no one else. Look at Altium, P-P or
right click Place->Part. When I started, I already had experience with
Eagle, all that was necessary was to adjust to the Altium way. I did
everything as a newbie, menus. Once I got the hang of it, the transition to
the shortcuts is just natural.

Watching EEVblogs first time experience with Kicad is just proof of it. As
an EE you want to use the tool based on previous experiences. With kicad,
one MUST have a manual explaining each and every step, and also translating
its lingo. Why the name changes to industry standards? (ie
Footprint=Module) Even on CERNs page there is talk about having a cohesive
UI.

Also, it isn't clear the goals. Are CERNs goals kicad goals? I have learned
that if you have no clear goals you will waste time in useless features.
Feature creep. Then the rest of the time is putting out fires till someone
branches out and starts from scratch.

Lastly, I know that keeping it fun helps developers on the project, but fun
alone with no heading is just a crash coarse waiting to happen. The easier
to learn to use the program, the more users. That could bring more
developers, more interest.

On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 5:08 PM, <xarx@xxxxxx> wrote:

> Situation: As a KiCad newbie, I'm not satisfied with how some
> functionalities
> work, say, how the cooperation with the simulation engine works.
> Having no information on development intentions of the current KiCad
> development team, I end up by proposing a patch that tries to fix the
> existing
> KiCad functionality without much pain.
> If I read the road map, I would see there: "Simulations: Provide quality
> circuit simulation capabilities similar to commercial products - no
> progress".
> Now I have no idea what are the expectation from the "quality circuit
> simulator", how should it look like. And thus I would give up at the very
> beginning.
>
> However, If I got a high-level design, I would get an idea how much work it
> will be, whether I have the expertise needed, and whether I am interested
> in
> the functionality as designed. I would compare my effort and gains,
> whether it
> would bring me a better functionality than the patch mentioned above. And
> then
> I could decide to try that, because at least I would know that if I follow
> the
> design, my contribution won't get rejected.
>
> I know this is sad, but the newbie cannot make the high-level design by
> himself. It must be a long-time KiCad user or a long-time KiCad developer.
>
>     Martin.
>
>
> ----- Původní zpráva -----
> Odesílatel: Javier Serrano <javier.serrano.pareja@xxxxxxxxx>
> Příjemce: xarx@xxxxxx
> Datum: Wed, 4 Nov 2015 21:10:47 +0100
> Předmět: Re: [Kicad-developers] About collaboration, simulation,
> documentation, organisation, usability and documentation
>
>
> > On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 7:26 PM,  <xarx@xxxxxx> wrote:
> > >> We actually do have an idea where we are headed and a road map
> > >
> > > That's good, but they are still too vague for a newbie to learn what
> exactly
> > > needs to be done.
> >
> > As a newbie, what type of information would you expect to find, and how?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Javier
> >
>
>
> --
>
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