even if altium stops supporting tomorrow, they will use it for many more years because there is simply no direct replacement for today … just like there is no replacement for win … the eagle was an amateur software and in all my 15 years of activity I have not seen that it was used on enterprises, and this is at least an indicator … Linux is not popular due to the small availability of engineering software if we consider it for our business.) As for the importer from Altium, judging by this forum, it is not very popular among Altium users, now it works more on the contrary from kicad to Altum
I don’t know how many altium users there are on this forum, but you just can’t draw conclusions like that from reading a few posts.
Just recently I did a few experiments with importing altium schematic and PCB’s, and they were pretty much flawless, even all the 3D models were included and showed up in KiCad’s 3D viewer, and I was quite impressed with the results. I think I looked at 4 or 5 different PCB’s, from 60x110mm two layers to a smaller 8-layer PCB with a complex outline and snap-off part. It was not an exhaustive test though, but it was much more then I expected, and I never dropped a single word about it on this forum (until now).
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I draw such conclusions after discovering serious problems in terms of conversion on altium boards … except for me, this was not reported for several months on this forum … such blunders were hard not to notice if you use a converter … and here are two option or few people need it or just keep silent) you can see my topic with examples … of course, everything was fixed and corrected that I found and I am very grateful for this, but the fact that users have not discussed this for several months is …
You’ve been told over and over again what to do if you experience problems importing Altium boards: Report bugs on the Gitlab issue tracker (not here on this forum) with boards attached and a description of the problem. Stop derailing unrelated threads.
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in fairness, there are enough tools without it … and yes, sometimes projects are closed for various reasons
Another info:
Starting August 15, 2023, SOLIDWORKS PCB and SOLIDWORKS PCB Connector will no longer receive updates or support.
SOLIDWORKS PCB is developed by Altium.
Are you seriously suggesting that Altium users with time invested (training) and lots of cash invested in Altium are going to write all that off to jump ship to KiCad ? even if an Altium user stops paying for support they still have a hefty investment they have to recoup.
I could see Solidworks PCB users jumping to KiCad but many will just panic and switch to Altium as they are being told it’s the only option. Once KiCad V8 arrives and there is an import path from Solidworks PCB that may change.
Yes, you are right of course … how do you imagine, for example, looking for a job without knowledge of altium? or for example, working in a development team that uses altium … for the most part, this is unfortunately the case … amateurs or loners of course can use anything but the market dictates its own rules … we have to adapt and do our job … here’s how only because of the solid from altium, most of them will switch to kikad, so we will immediately inform you here) in the best times, the eagle was not a competitor to pcad and altium in the global ratio, so why should solid users switch to kikad en masse? or version 8 will make a big leap?
To save £10k a seat.
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following your logic, the presence of the altium exporter allows you to work in kicad without buying altium?) but the fact that at least 50 percent of the functions are missing does not bother you? altium is used not because it is expensive like solid, but because it can do something that others cannot … the price in this case is a relative parameter if you make money with it … for everyone else there is freecad linux and, as you might guess, users choose win . … although it is paid … in most organizations, all software belongs to the employer and you, as an employee, don’t give a damn how much it costs … and this has been working for many years … and you want to transplant people with one exporter to a program that does not have full support and a permanent code … so maybe then not to buy a solid, but to use freecad?
I kind of get the question in my mind what you try to say with your unnumerable messages about this topic of Altium to KiCad importer not fulfilling your needs, and now the general lack of features of KiCad.
Do you hope that KiCad would fulfill your needs? Then you would be strongly encouraged to report it on Gitlab, as many have suggested.
Mod Edit by Hermit: Seems a good place to close this thread.
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