kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Simon Richter <Simon.Richter@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

On 08.11.2017 08:02, Oliver Walters wrote:

> For v5 release, can the default library install path be set to a user
> directory rather than program directory that may require administrator
> rights?

On Windows, there is a provision in the MSI standard for installing
software for the user only, which then doesn't require administrative
privileges. That will install both KiCad and the library into the user
home directory then, and the installation will not be available to any
other user on the system.

On Unix, no way.

What might work, but needs a bit of extra code, would be a per-user
library directory and automatically copying modified libraries there,
which then override the shipped library. My expectation would be that
this would lead to a huge chaos unless we also get a proper library
manager, which I don't see happening before version 5.

What users need is a subset of

 - a standard library of readymade components so you can do quick
projects like "arduino plus five resistors" easily
 - an organization-wide library, possibly with inventory integration
 - a per-user library of things the user works with
 - a per-project library of things that were actually used and need to
be archived together with the project (copying footprints onto the PCB
doesn't count, because you cannot easily revert changes).

Which of these the user actually needs depends on whether they are doing
this for work or as a hobby, and on their working style.

   Simon

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature