Your understanding is incorrect. Installing the correct packages is an earlier problem. The rm command clears one’s personal configuration so that the library tables can be set up correctly if they were wrong due to missing packages. It cannot affect what happened or will happen with the system packages. It’s like a factory reset button, if you like, but only for a user’s configuration. It’s important to understand the distinction between the system’s and the user’s resources.
It’s also debatable whether you were really missing the library packages. You could also have caused the issue by taking the wrong choice at the first time setup dialog, after which the setting “stuck”.
I should warn people not to adopt this as a solution for all kinds of issues without understanding. For example if you have already customised your KiCad setup, with choice of display rendering, auto backup settings, and all sorts of parameters, you will lose all that when you clear the configuration. If you are just starting off, then you have nothing to lose anyway.
@retiredfeline, Thank You.
You apparently know what you talk about.
That does not change the fact, that an incredibly shoddykicad.org install page leads people into trouble. I’m the guy having a backup/restore system saving my behind every time. Not everyone has that.
The kicad.org 6.0.2 site tells you to install “kicad-library”. WRONG!!
The kicad.org 6.0.2 site tells you to install “kicad-doc”. WRONG!!
Both statements could be changed on the web site in one minute. But no one cares.
And I still don’t know how to get the documentation installed.
Besides the current instructions are questionable on the Download site for Ubuntu you should get familiar with the package tools within a Debian based distribution. The graphical and also the CLI based package manager provide options to search for packages or names. Without a basic knowledge how to use that you will again and again get some friction due unexpected things that will happen.
To get a better understanding about the relationship between the various KiCad packages that are provided in Debian and Ubuntu I’ve made graphic for the KiCad Wiki page in Debian. It’s still valid also for KiCad 6.x as there hasn’t changed anything to this.
The package kicad-libraries is a virtual package, means it only depend on other “real” packages that are mostly needed together. But you don’t need to install that package, you could also just install one of the depending packages, or all of them. If you are unsure then please use the virtual package instead of the manual installation!
The split off into 3 additional packages did happen because not every time all of the library related packages need to get an update once the main application package gets an update. E.g. not always will the templates get an update too.
And I still don’t know how to get the documentation installed.
Well, as written above. Get in touch with the package tools within your distribution, Windows doesn’t have something similar. I’m more working on the CLI so that’s how I basically start to search for packages.
$ apt-cache search kicad | grep doc
kicad-doc-ca - Kicad help files (Catalan)
kicad-doc-de - Kicad help files (German)
kicad-doc-en - Kicad help files (English)
kicad-doc-es - Kicad help files (Spanish)
kicad-doc-fr - Kicad help files (French)
kicad-doc-id - Kicad help files (Indonesian)
kicad-doc-it - Kicad help files (Italian)
kicad-doc-ja - Kicad help files (Japanese)
kicad-doc-pl - Kicad help files (Polish)
kicad-doc-ru - Kicad help files (Russian)
kicad-doc-zh - Kicad help files (Chinese)
My apologies, very bad phrasing on my side. What I meant to say was, that the command resets my settings, allowing a new (correct) install of kicad-symbols.
@tijuca:
Thanks, but I don’t feel that a normal user should need to go this deep into the install.
Thank you for the reference to the correct documentation packages.
kicad-doc-en installed with no problems.
