:I did not ignore the OP's subject line. :I offered him [the] use [for free of] what I am developing
Note that I have redacted your text in an order that communicates what I think you meant. Perhaps this is all about a language barrier. My interpretation of what you initially said was that the package you are developing would be free to all.
It is done all the time. DJ Delorie, who contributed to this thread, does exactly that on an open source project called "PCB" (and, by extension, on "gEDA").
People do things for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps DJ will enlighten you here with his motivations.
All I'm looking for from you is candor. A statement like
**I can offer you a freeware beta of my payware project** would have been apt.
Actually Yeah...Wrong! I would have no problem issuing a free license to those who contributed enough to deserve this. I think we can easily agree that I couldn't just do this with everyone who just downloads the app and plays with it for 5 mins and then posts a comment. But those individuals who do really help out...I would be more than happy to.
It's funny, I see so many users in various forums always complaining on how developers don't listen to the end-users and so on. But when a developer actually tries to include the end-users in the development stage and *is* listening...that apparently isn't right either!
And 80% is optimistic, I know that all too well.
I don't expect anything of anyone. I simply figured there might be people out there that may have interest in voicing their thoughts, suggestions and opinions during the development stage where such things are much easier considered than after the fact. If you wish to do so or not is entirely up to you. As far as free is concerned, see above.
And that's perfectly fine. But you only do this in exchange for those green little peices of paper right?
-- Stephan
2003 Yamaha R6
kimi no koto omoidasu hi nante nai no wa kimi no koto wasureta toki ga nai kara
True, probably the more correct way of wording it.
While not my native language I do think that my English is more than sufficient where that really should not pose a problem. I am not an English professor though! =)
You probably missed the first post I made a couple weeks ago which includes links to a beta version which clearly states that what I am working on is not freeware or open source.
Oh I realize that it is done all the time. And hey, more power to those who can do it. However, I personally can't.
Which is precisely what I offered. I stated that my application is a beta and that he is more than welcome to use it.
-- Stephan
2003 Yamaha R6
kimi no koto omoidasu hi nante nai no wa kimi no koto wasureta toki ga nai kara
I need it to do what I need it to do, the easiest way to make it do that is to change it myself. Sorry, completely selfish. I can get the best bang for the buck if I start with something that mostly does what I want, and make the changes I need. Feeding the changes back to the public just makes it easier to maintain them - no need to maintain a separate set of patches for my own copy.
The prime motivation was to build this:
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I'm working on a microcontroller-based version next, to get rid of the beige PC on the floor.
For comparison, I work for Red Hat Inc. ALL our software is free (as in freedom) and can usually be downloaded for free (as in beer). Why do we do it? Because people pay us to make it do what they want, and they pay us for support.
Yea but you might also have a market where something like that is more applicable and possible to do.
If I release my app for free nobody is going to pay me to add a feature to it they want. Nor is anyone going to pay me to support them and tell them how to draw a line...
And if they need design support, well that falls outside my expertise and outside the spectrum of my knowledge.
I just don't see such a model working for an application such as this. I may actually though release a free-version of the app with some limitations over the commercial version. Fully-featured, just limited in board size and component count to cater to students and the guy at home who cannot justify buying a commercial EDA package for his hobby project. This is still very much in the open though and I haven't made a final decision either way yet. I still need to work out the details.
-- Stephan
2003 Yamaha R6
kimi no koto omoidasu hi nante nai no wa kimi no koto wasureta toki ga nai kara
Yeah, I was in that kind of relationship with Orcad once, and guess what? They were happy to sell my work, but for some reason, they never quite got around to knocking anything off of the price for my maintenance agreement.
And when I needed for them to do something for me, all they could say was sorry, no money in it for us.
...
I'd rather funnel my energies over to DJ and the gEDA group. That way, I know I will always be able to gain the use of the fruits of my labor. Your product may be the next blue ribbon CAD program, but I would be willing to bet that as a commercial product, it won't even rate "also ran" status. You are jumping into a market that is already full to the brim with schematic capture products. Do a little market research. What niche do you think you are going to fill?
Putting your efforts into the gEDA camp would make you a big fish in a small pond... if that matters to you.
Actually, no. I have done numerous projects for which I have received no compensation. Those, I make available to anyone who wants them. I published my first freeware utility back in the early '90s.
My principal motivation for being an engineer is I like making things. I would still be making things even if no one was willing to pay for them. The big difference is that for pay, you may be able to convince me to make things that interest you, instead of me only making things that interest me.
DJ and crew are doing their work on PCB and gEDA to scratch their own itches. Some of their itches match mine.
If you do provide libraries, they should be of a high standard. You can download IPC-7351 SMT Land Pattern Libraries at
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for various PCB CAD systems. If you can write a translator to translate these Land patterns for your system you will have quite a large IPC standards conforming library with little effort. Make sure it is possible to import DXF files at least. Creating Sil Screen Overlays in a Mechanical CAD package is often much easier than in a PCB library program. It is also quite common to be able to get Mechanical CAD files for connectors, from which very accurate and detailed Silk Screen Overlays can be generated.
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