From: muratlanne@gmail.com   
      
   "James Waldby"  wrote in message news:10gra31$3vjr2$1@dont-email.me...   
      
   ... I've done some   
   fancier parts using FreeCAD, which gets criticized for having a steep   
   learning curve, although there's excellent in-depth coverage of it in   
   youtube videos if you have a few weeks to assimilate them.   
   jiw   
   ------------------------------------   
      
   I used PADS PCB for circuit board and machined enclosure design for many   
   years and learned to tolerate its many quirks and annoyances. It could do   
   everything but the command sequence differs among object types and it   
   doesn't allow hopping sideways between menu tree branches, which at least   
   helps avoid modifying an adjacent wrong selection, circuit boards are   
   densely packed in 3 dimensions.   
      
   https://community.sw.siemens.com/s/question/0D54O00006ksLqlSAE/h   
   w-can-this-product-be-so-bad   
   "Unfortunately, I can't stop using this software: The company is committed   
   to it, based on my recommendation (pounds head on desk 😝 ) , so I'll just   
   have to live with it."   
      
   It originated at DEC and used the numbered function keys for commands, which   
   was handy for the simpler DOS version but limiting when upgraded for   
   Windows.   
      
   A particularly serious gotcha was that pin designation of diodes varies   
   between libraries, as it's not obvious which should be 1 or 2, A and C are   
   only aliases. I created my own library of all components I used, often with   
   slightly extended pads for soldering rework or test point wires and   
   tolerances matched to the fabricators' improving capabilities.   
      
   New users received and needed a two week training course at their   
   headquarters, fortunately nearby. Electrical engineers using my workstation   
   network for Viewlogic schematic capture stopped asking questions in half a   
   day, with PADS they were still having trouble for a week.   
      
   Multilayer high speed circuit board design is tricky anyway and evidently   
   not taught well enough in college, I had to learn it on my own with little   
   help from above. I also learned ASIC and FPGA (customized IC logic) design   
   and G code quickly without help.   
      
   How relatively difficult is FreeCAD?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)