On Wed, November 8, 2017 22:18, easyw wrote:
the two a) and b) points are a big issue I think and this configuration is
normally not present in other installer programs on windows...
In windows a common User Folder is called common doc folder;
the var pointing to C:\Users\Public is %PUBLIC% in recent Windows
https://installmate.com/support/im9/kb/kb50038.htm#commondoc
Then placing the libraries models/modules in i.e. C:\Users\Public\kicad
folder, will let All Users have access read/write to these folders
[..]
This is even worse.. that way co-workers could (even accidentally) change
the library without any notice.
I think there are two use cases:
1) Simple users of KiCAD
For this use case, the library should be installed in a write-protected
location where only install admins can change them (like it is now).
As a simple user I would expect stable KiCAD releases to come with an
official sanctioned library for that release. Eagle and most other CAD
packages do the same bundling.
Auto-updaters that just update the library will confuse simple users, and
may cause compatibility problems if the library requires new features.
The same goes for automagic copy-on-write features - It's better to just
document how a library can be copied locally and how to override the
official one.
2) Advanced users that want to contribute to the library
Advanced users should just clone the library using GIT. That way it's
possible to update and send pull requests using a normal, non-magic
workflow.
An option to skip bundled library installation would be nice, but is
optional.
Library overrides could be done using a prioritized search path:
1. $PROJECT/library # very useful for project-specific things
2. ~/.KiCAD/library # useful for contributor work
3. /usr/share/KiCAD/library # default for simple users
Of course, users could insert their own location like a company file server..
best regards,
