KiCad

How to join KiCad EDA Software Suite

Asked by John Monahan

I'm a bit confused as to how to join the "KiCad EDA Software Suite".
There is a "Log In" button at the top RHS of the page
http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite
but nowhere can I find a link/info as to how to join.

The only join-up link I found was here, but I'm not a Ubuntu user and really am only interested in Windows versions.

Second, the current windows version of Kicad was from last year. Where are newer/protype/experimental versions located.
can one try them out.

Third, how do you find the responses to a question like this on this site. It's not clear where the forum is listed

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Wayne Stambaugh
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Wayne Stambaugh (stambaughw) said : 		#1

You can join the developers mailing list here: http://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers. You can join the user mailing list here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/. These are the mailing lists irregardless of what operating system you are using. You do not need to use Ubuntu to use launchpad.

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John Monahan (monahan) said : 		#2

Thanks for the fast response Wayne.

"You can join the user mailing list here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/. " does not point me to a valid URL! Do you have a correction? While I can stay with the Ubuntu group I suspect I would get little windows specific issues help there.

BTW, I would rather not join up via Yahoo! because once you do so via those types of sites you get bombarded with junk mail/postings. These days they are like catching a disease. I and many of my colleagues no longer go there. Is there a dedicated “KiCAD forum page” like other forums that display treads submitted by users and from a dropdown menu new users can apply. For example the DipTrace one is:-

http://diptrace.com/forum/

The reason I would like to “get involved” with other KiCAD users is that I am a member of a group that use the software to design and layout S100 bus boards. We have done probably about 50 different boards so far over the years. A partial list can be seen here:-
http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Index%20Page.htm

My current question is how can I try out new versions of the Windows KiCAD software. I am working with the 2013-07-07 BZR 4022 version which is over a year old. Is there a URL one can download the newer versions from? The above version is kind of “kludgie” in moving .brd traces around.
John

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Best Wayne Stambaugh (stambaughw) said : 		#3

The link to the kicad users group is https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/info. This is the only kicad users group that I'm aware of. As far as trying newer versions of KiCad, I'm not sure if anyone is providing regular builds for Windows. It is something that the developers have discussed. It's a matter of finding the manpower to get it implemented. I understand that the kicad-winbuilder makes it possible for windows users to keep up with the latest builds of kicad. The kicad-winbuilder can be found at https://launchpad.net/kicad-winbuilder.

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John Monahan (monahan) said : 		#4

Thanks Wayne, I got myself signed up.

Really hope somebody there will think of us poor Windows users. We feel like second class citizens with Kicad. I would be curious to know what is the actual user base between Ubuntu, Mac and Windows actual users. There seem to be an effort to get the software widely used, regular updates for all OS's should be in IMHO more important than some specialized "tweek" to the current software.

Anyway thanks for the help.
John