Autodesk buys Eagle

[timb]

You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

Dude,   WTF is up with that non-legit link??       It does not instill confidence that someone would be getting it from a primary source!

Dude, WTF are you blathering about??       It does not instill confidence in your ability to reason!

[Wilksey]

It's not really a link as such, it's an image, showing download options.

[ehughes]

You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

He is instructing to download from a Cadsoft or Autodesk Site.  It screams "shady". (Not that he is intentionally trying to spread malware,  it is just  a no-no in my book to *ever* have a link to something other than the primary corporate source)

imgur is a popular place to get people to click on "viral" images and distribute Malware.

I am paranoid of anything that looks like one of those shady link shortening sites.

It is the equivalent of this :-)

[Sbampato12]

Hi Atmelio --

Just a heads up (this is Matt here btw! Hi!) EAGLE runs on Linux.  We develop on Linux.  So EAGLE is native on linux.  You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

.

Best regards,

Matt

English is not my native language, but I think that this question is about THE site, and not THIS site www.xxxxxx.xxx.
The site were you are supposed to donwload, the vendor website. After comma, was only an image showing how clearly were the options from THE site.

This isn't intend to be offensive 

[Zbig]

[..]
I am paranoid of anything that looks like one of those shady link shortening sites.
[..]

Deal with it like a grownup and stop making fool of yourself on a public forum.

[nctnico]

[..]
I am paranoid of anything that looks like one of those shady link shortening sites.
[..]

Deal with it like a grownup and stop making fool of yourself on a public forum.

I agree. Vetting downloads isn't hard if you have common sense, a virus/malware scanner and the ability to read the comments.

[Wilksey]

Your save button is disabled.

Anyway, he said from THE site not THIS site, meaning, to me, Cadsoft, so it all depends how you interpret it.

And why would someone from Autodesk want to link you to malware?  Surely that would be a trifle bad for business?

[technolomaniac]

Dave said in the video that someone from Autodesk (Matt?) would be on this forum, so I am hoping for an answer from Autodesk to the Linux version question. I have a lot of custom parts that I have designed in a library, in fact I am just starting another one, and it would be good to know as soon as possible before I have to redo all of them in KiCAD or whatever.
I did not mean to start an OS war by saying that I use only Linux-honestly. Here is my story: nine years ago, I wanted to pay my electricity bill and started up my Windows computer. The hard disk had crashed and I ended up having to install a new hard disk and reinstall Windows. I inserted the CD and reinstalled, but it would not let me login, saying that the hard disk had changed and that registration had failed (This was a Windows CD that I had bought from Bestbuy). I was getting worried that I cold lose electricity if I don't pay the bill, and I had a Linux Format magazine lying around with an Ubuntu 7.04 CD. I was able to install Ubuntu, get on the Internet and pay the bill within an hour. I staid with Ubuntu and over time, replaced all of my Windows programs with Linux programs. For me, it's about a guarantee that I can use my computer and that somebody is not going to disable my computer for whatever reason-that's all.

In any case, I am still hoping for an affirmative yes or no to the Linux version question of Eagle-thank you.

Hi Atmelio --

Just a heads up (this is Matt here btw! Hi!) EAGLE runs on Linux.  We develop on Linux.  So EAGLE is native on linux.  You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

.

Best regards,

Matt

...
In any case, I am still hoping for an affirmative yes or no to the Linux version question of Eagle-thank you.

There is Linux on the road map, and it was stated that Eagle is developed on Linux I believe.
Meanwhile, while you are waiting, check the Eagle import into KiCad and you can likely run both.
That covers  you against any "Corporate Shifts" at Autodesk - if licenses worry you, choose the path with no license.

So EAGLE is a part of my group at Autodesk and I just want to be clear, EAGLE already runs on linux.  It has for years.  Please see my comments throughout this thread.  Check out the download page and you will see the option for OS.  Go to cadsoft.io for details.

Best regards,

Matt - Autodesk

[technolomaniac]

Hi Atmelio --

Just a heads up (this is Matt here btw! Hi!) EAGLE runs on Linux.  We develop on Linux.  So EAGLE is native on linux.  You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

.

Best regards,

Matt

English is not my native language, but I think that this question is about THE site, and not THIS site www.xxxxxx.xxx.
The site were you are supposed to download, the vendor website. After comma, was only an image showing how clearly were the options from THE site.

This isn't intend to be offensive 

No problem with the language, your english was very clear.    So the link to the site is cadsoft.io.  I just wanted to be sure that people knew you could get a linux version!  EAGLE runs on linux already.

[technolomaniac]

You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

He is instructing to download from a Cadsoft or Autodesk Site.  It screams "shady". (Not that he is intentionally trying to spread malware,  it is just  a no-no in my book to *ever* have a link to something other than the primary corporate source)

imgur is a popular place to get people to click on "viral" images and distribute Malware.

I am paranoid of anything that looks like one of those shady link shortening sites.

It is the equivalent of this :-)

Hi eHughes (hope you're well buddy!)  -- I'd put it into imgur because inlining images wasn't working from my lame-o tablet last night.  Oh well.  The image just showed versions from the download page.  Checkout www.cadsoft.io and click the download link to see the various versions.  Also says Windows, Linux and Mac on the page.   Point-being, EAGLE supports Linux natively.  Likewise, Windows and Mac are also native support (no emulation).  This is in part why it run so fast and manages to be stable across multiple OS's. 

Best regards,
Matt Berggren - Autodesk.

[ehughes]

You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

He is instructing to download from a Cadsoft or Autodesk Site.  It screams "shady". (Not that he is intentionally trying to spread malware,  it is just  a no-no in my book to *ever* have a link to something other than the primary corporate source)

imgur is a popular place to get people to click on "viral" images and distribute Malware.

I am paranoid of anything that looks like one of those shady link shortening sites.

It is the equivalent of this :-)

Hi eHughes (hope you're well buddy!)  -- I'd put it into imgur because inlining images wasn't working from my lame-o tablet last night.  Oh well.  The image just showed versions from the download page.  Checkout www.cadsoft.io and click the download link to see the various versions.  Also says Windows, Linux and Mac on the page.   Point-being, EAGLE supports Linux natively.  Likewise, Windows and Mac are also native support (no emulation).  This is in part why it run so fast and manages to be stable across multiple OS's. 

Best regards,
Matt Berggren - Autodesk.

I am busy as every!  Currently  doing some cool space stuff with 1700 pin Xilinx parts.....


Don't sweat it, I am just pulling your chain :-). Now that that you are on the other team I have to give you a hard time 

I hope you can do good things with EAGLE.  I was a user for awhile and do have a soft spot for the tool.   I did like the command line as well as the ULP capability.   The biggest issue was that it could not grow with my needs but I guess an army of programmers at Autodesk could certain help things.

 My thoughts:

1.).  Push/shove routing.   
2.). Supplier integration to make purchasing BOMs more automated
3.).  Better mechanical tools (real dimensioning)
4.). A true 3d mode of where you get instant 3d in the window (not a goofy povray flow).   It needs to be instant.
5.). STEP export (this is where the Autodesk link will be best)
6.). 3d STEP models embeddable in the libraries.     It has to link into to real cad models in the parts themselves.   No goofy formats. Only real CAD (step, goes, parasolid)
7.). More automation to generate documentation.
8.). IPC footprint generation
9.). An improved DRC system.   It needs to be a lot more flexible to setup complex rules

The main issue with EAGLE's (and KiCad for that matter) 3D functionality through the ULPs is that it was focused on exporting  pretty pictures.    The real goal is to get the PCB in a real mechanical assembly that is fully constrained.  This is the main disconnect between the hobby and pro worlds.   

The old EAGLE team completely missed the point of 3D.   I hope the guys at Autodesk can slap them with a bit of trout.

Good luck with your new position.   I sincerely hope you can make some real change as it will make the entire ecosystem healthy.   EAGLE has been effectively frozen in time since about 2008.  The XML format and the ability to have user definable parameters were last real improvements that I saw.  It was then that I had to switch to something else as it was costing me too man hours to do the complicated stuff.

[rx8pilot]

real dimensioning for sure.
3D/Step/ anything that helps deal with tight mechanical realities.

This is one of my projects with 7 small double sided PCB's in a tight enclosure. What a fiddly mess it was to get it sorted out. The worst part are the 'tweaks' where small changes were needed. Nearly pulled all my hair out and that is a LOT of hair.

[Baron Silikon]

Please feel free to contact me directly anytime with questions, concerns, ideas, etc.  ...

Hi, i am an eagle user since 2.x, now 6.x. For me it's useful and very very stable. I am using it with mercurial as VCS ( fantastic thanks to the XML structure). But even a good program can made better. Here a few wishes/suggestions.

1. BOM
Eagle has attributes to hold the desired data. Imho that doesn't make much sense. You will bind a lot of often changing data to more or less static part in a lib or a design or wherever your part actually is. Maybe it is better to use only one  (a unique part number) and get the rest over an interface (ODBC on Windows) from a relational database. Than you can use this database or an ERP to produce the BOM e.g direct in excel or whatever your preferred report generator is.

2. LIB
The part creation in eagle is (let's say) a little difficult, better description maybe "a negative reference in usability". In general you simply don`t see what you're doing. Better maybe to use a interactive 3 windows approach (one for symbol, one for footprint and one for the device). A filter in the selection box would also be nice.

3. Design process.
One of the issues (there are many) is the ratsnest (btw. a good description of what eagle has  ;-) ) . If you select a device there is no highlighting of connected nest (or dimming of unused ones), no dynamic change, finding stubs has an needle in the haystack philosophy, the whole spaghetti monster contains not even  a single netname aso.

There are a lot more issues, most simply nagging and disturbing my concentration on what I want. But this is getting off topic and the most things are described before in a lot of places elsewhere.

[jgarc063]

What bugs me about Eagle is that instead of right-clicking on a part and then choosing "move" or something, you have to choose "move" first and then click on the part. Unintuitive, but again, in the end, the boards work, and that's the main thing.

The reason that Eagle works like this, is because it works faster. You select the tool once, and than you can work with that tool
on multiple objects without the need to right-click every time. Once you get used to that, it's a real time saver.

Out of interest, AutoCad supports both methods.....the user can decide.
AutoCad also supports a command called MOCORO (MOve_COpy_ROtate) meaning you choose the command once and from there you can perform either of the commands repeatably without choosing again......net result speed!

There soooo much to learn from other cad programs and other factions of the cad world it frustrates me that some companies don't look into these things!......all for the sake of a bit of thought!

Ian.

Hi All,

Just to clarify, EAGLE supports both methods as well. You can use the right-click on a part and then select move, or you can go the more efficient route and click on the move command first and then click on the components.

Additionally the move command allows you to rotate, and mirror by right-clicking and center-clicking respectively.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Jorge Garcia
Cadsoft Support

[technolomaniac]

You can download your favorite flavor from the site,

He is instructing to download from a Cadsoft or Autodesk Site.  It screams "shady". (Not that he is intentionally trying to spread malware,  it is just  a no-no in my book to *ever* have a link to something other than the primary corporate source)

imgur is a popular place to get people to click on "viral" images and distribute Malware.

I am paranoid of anything that looks like one of those shady link shortening sites.

It is the equivalent of this :-)

Hi eHughes (hope you're well buddy!)  -- I'd put it into imgur because inlining images wasn't working from my lame-o tablet last night.  Oh well.  The image just showed versions from the download page.  Checkout www.cadsoft.io and click the download link to see the various versions.  Also says Windows, Linux and Mac on the page.   Point-being, EAGLE supports Linux natively.  Likewise, Windows and Mac are also native support (no emulation).  This is in part why it run so fast and manages to be stable across multiple OS's. 

Best regards,
Matt Berggren - Autodesk.

I am busy as every!  Currently  doing some cool space stuff with 1700 pin Xilinx parts.....


Don't sweat it, I am just pulling your chain :-). Now that that you are on the other team I have to give you a hard time 

I hope you can do good things with EAGLE.  I was a user for awhile and do have a soft spot for the tool.   I did like the command line as well as the ULP capability.   The biggest issue was that it could not grow with my needs but I guess an army of programmers at Autodesk could certain help things.

 My thoughts:

1.).  Push/shove routing.   
2.). Supplier integration to make purchasing BOMs more automated
3.).  Better mechanical tools (real dimensioning)
4.). A true 3d mode of where you get instant 3d in the window (not a goofy povray flow).   It needs to be instant.
5.). STEP export (this is where the Autodesk link will be best)
6.). 3d STEP models embeddable in the libraries.     It has to link into to real cad models in the parts themselves.   No goofy formats. Only real CAD (step, goes, parasolid)
7.). More automation to generate documentation.
8.). IPC footprint generation
9.). An improved DRC system.   It needs to be a lot more flexible to setup complex rules

The main issue with EAGLE's (and KiCad for that matter) 3D functionality through the ULPs is that it was focused on exporting  pretty pictures.    The real goal is to get the PCB in a real mechanical assembly that is fully constrained.  This is the main disconnect between the hobby and pro worlds.   

The old EAGLE team completely missed the point of 3D.   I hope the guys at Autodesk can slap them with a bit of trout.

Good luck with your new position.   I sincerely hope you can make some real change as it will make the entire ecosystem healthy.   EAGLE has been effectively frozen in time since about 2008.  The XML format and the ability to have user definable parameters were last real improvements that I saw.  It was then that I had to switch to something else as it was costing me too man hours to do the complicated stuff.

First off, thanks mate for the well wishes!  This is an amazing list and it's super helpful having your honest feedback.  (And sorry for my annoying link...point taken and well deserved  

The benefit of actually having lived in this space for some time is that I think we finally, truly know what the essentials are for productivity, and what we totally get kicks from!  (certainly we have both stared at these things for enough hours to qualify for some sort of award, no?)

Getting the balance right between great capabilities and something lightweight and intuitive is essential and having the chance to work from such a consistent, lightweight UI these days is a pretty unique position. I know I'd prefer to teach classes where the first two or three nights aren't about how to use the sw.  So we have to tread carefully to keep things clean and user friendly.

Our expectations are pretty high right now and I can say honestly that the enthusiasm amongst development is awesome.  We know we have a debt to the community by taking on such a popular product and something in which so many have invested their time and energy...So we are definitely taking it seriously and hoping to deliver great things.  The more feedback we get, the better it'll be and the faster we'll get there!

[technolomaniac]

real dimensioning for sure.
3D/Step/ anything that helps deal with tight mechanical realities.

This is one of my projects with 7 small double sided PCB's in a tight enclosure. What a fiddly mess it was to get it sorted out. The worst part are the 'tweaks' where small changes were needed. Nearly pulled all my hair out and that is a LOT of hair.

Dimensioning was one I hadn't had on my list but I agree it's critical!  I've added it to my short list.  With the mechanical tools at Autodesk, the interface to mechanical is a super high priority!  Thanks for the feedback!  Expect I'll blog a new feature roadmap soon -ish, once we've gotten a little further along.

Best regards,

Matt   

[LabSpokane]

Matt,

Any AutoCad Fu you can sprinkle in from a dimensioning and drawing perspective would be a welcome relief! 

Line, pline, Circle, rectang, offset, dim, array ... etc. basics  with coordinate entry would be a joy...particularly with the smart alignment and pick features that AutoCad has. I know that's a lot to ask.

If select, copy, and move could get modernized to AutoCad style (select in the box dragging right, all touching dragging left, that would be fantastic).

Slotted pads would be a huge advance as well. 

Looking forward to the changes! 

[IanJ]

Hi all,

Here's what I'd like to see in order of basic preference, might differ from others but here it is:-

- Modernize the GUI (a dynamic ribbon).
- Library management.
- Add functionality.

Be nice to get to a point where I (as a V6.6 Pro user) I would feel it's worth the money to upgrade. As it stands I wouldn't upgrade to V7 etc. Saying that though, even a good GUI upgrade on it's own might be enough......

Am really looking forward to see what comes out of Autodesk.

Ian.

[Pack34]

My big feature request list is

1. Addition of a "Flip Board" feature where the entire design is mirrored to make routing traces on the bottom easier.
2. Improvement of meandering and trace length matching. Right now it's rather "cludegy". I should be able to select two nets and assign them as length matched. Then when I'm routing said nets they should show live lengths so I can massage the trace lengths as necessary. Right now it's a recursive matter of modifying a trace, running a ULP to read the lengths, and repeat until it's within tolerance.
3. Push routing
4. Actual panelization tools. The existing scripts are woefully deficient.
5. Automated landing pad wizard where I should be able to select the package style, pitch, etc and have it auto generate.
6. Better library management. Common footprints and schematic symbols should be "global" between libraries.
7. Automated PCB documentation. Tie in the DRC and layer stack into the physical layout for production.

[Karel]

My big feature request list is

2. Improvement of meandering and trace length matching. Right now it's rather "cludegy". I should be able to select two nets and assign them as length matched. Then when I'm routing said nets they should show live lengths so I can massage the trace lengths as necessary. Right now it's a recursive matter of modifying a trace, running a ULP to read the lengths, and repeat until it's within tolerance.

This is already possible since V6. Check the manual, chapter 6.7 "Differential Pairs and Meanders".

[Pack34]

My big feature request list is

2. Improvement of meandering and trace length matching. Right now it's rather "cludegy". I should be able to select two nets and assign them as length matched. Then when I'm routing said nets they should show live lengths so I can massage the trace lengths as necessary. Right now it's a recursive matter of modifying a trace, running a ULP to read the lengths, and repeat until it's within tolerance.

This is already possible since V6. Check the manual, chapter 6.7 "Differential Pairs and Meanders".

It technically is but the implementation needs a lot of work.

[MrMiffy08]

Hello, I am an Eagle user since 2.6, as a hobbyist.
I agree to the many other suggestions, e.g. modernisation of UI and library/parts management, better dimensioning (autocad -like would be great!) etc. And, even if a 1st class revision management isn't possible with the next version, please please implement a date/time column to the control panel and the possibility to sort your projects by this. Could help a lot, if you don't want to use a github instead.
My other question is, (yes I read the whole thread...) does Autodesk still retain the hobbyist/non-profit license? I am one of the thousands of users who don't make money with it and wouldn't be able to stay with Eagle if not.
Greets from Germany,
Hanno/MM

[LabSpokane]

My other question is, (yes I read the whole thread...) does Autodesk still retain the hobbyist/non-profit license?

As of now, yes. 

[blackbird]

To bad the educational license is only for the US (.edu email only) :-(

[LabSpokane]

To bad the educational license is only for the US (.edu email only) :-(

I am sure if you actually called and explained that an exception might be made. 

I would suggest that no version of the software be free be is US .edu or otherwise, but that at least a token amount was paid toward the upkeep of the software.  $169 USD is not free, but also not an insurmountable impediment to someone who is seriously pursuing electronics design. 

"Free" is one of the major reasons Eagle got to be situation that it was in.  It's something that needs to be changed if Eagle is going to be a revenue source versus a sink for its new owner.