Ed,
Check out Eagle
It produces Gerber and Excellon output (plus others) so it meets your requirement of "vendor neutral" and is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.
The Eagle Light Edition can be had for free but your designs are limited to a board area of 100 x 80 mm, two layers and a single schematic sheet. Check out the website for commercial and educational versions if you need more capabilities.
-- James T. White
PCB
I use and recommend EAGLE from Cadsoft. It's available for Linux, MacOS and Win32. The full unrestricted version is $1200 for all modules. I think it's the best bang-buck out there by a LONG way.
I haven't used the Mac version, but the Linux and Windows versions are near-as-dammit identical in behavior. Not quite standard, there is a learning curve, but very powerful tools.
Just curious, but do you know if Cadsoft will discount the Linux versions if a user has a paid-for version under Windows or do they consider it as two separate licenses and charge full $$ for each?
-- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Generally - and obviously this is not a Cadsoft policy statement - they charge the price differential. There's an extra fee of something like $100 for a cross-platform license. I think that's all you'll need to pay to get a multi-platform unlock code.
Ask their sales staff. They're pretty flexible, particularly if you already own a license.
I got my cross-platform upgrade free, but I was giving their software away with a book so that's a special case ;)
There is one package that is Windows and Linux. There is a limited version for free download at:-
The only thing you will need to do is pay for improved capability (board size). I am thinking of using this one myself.
-- ******************************************************************** Paul E. Bennett .................... Forth based HIDECS Consultancy ..... Mob: +44 (0)7811-639972 .........NOW AVAILABLE:- HIDECS COURSE...... Tel: +44 (0)1235-811095 .... see http://www.feabhas.com for details. Going Forth Safely ..... EBA. www.electric-boat-association.org.uk.. ********************************************************************
Thanks for responding. One of the issues with investing in the package was a bit of a concern of being orphaned by an eventual move to Linux. Good to hear that they're reasonable about the licensing.
Yeah -- got it. Good book!
-- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Do you understand what a solder mask is? Apparently not. The bare bones deal very clearly doesn't include masks, which makes it worthless for the BGA's.
They
prototype
if
bones
I didn't look at the barebones deal that closely, because it never made sense for me economically. No need to get so shirty.
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.