Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the slow-death-of-proprietary-software dept.

EAGLE, The Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor is an ECAD (electronic computer-aided design), proprietary software for creating printed circuit boards. Cadsoft, the company that created it, sold EAGLE to Autodesk in June.

Hackaday reports

Autodesk has announced that EAGLE is now only available for purchase as a subscription. [Previously], users purchased EAGLE once and [could use] the software indefinitely (often for years) before deciding to move to a new version with another one-time purchase. Now, they'll be paying Autodesk on a monthly or yearly basis.

Before Autodesk purchased EAGLE from Cadsoft, a Standard license would run you $69, paid once. [...] Standard will [now] cost $15/month or $100/year and gives similar functionality to the old Premium level, but with only 2 signal layers.

[...] The next level up was Premium, at $820, paid once. [...] If you [now] need more [than 2] layers or more than 160 [sq.cm] of board space, you'll need the new Premium level, at $65/month or $500/year.
New Subscription Pricing Table for Eagle

[...] The [freeware] version still exists, but, for anyone using Eagle for commercial purposes (from Tindie sellers to engineering firms), this is a big change. Even if you agree with the new pricing, a subscription model means you never actually own the software. This model will require licensing software that needs to phone home periodically and can be killed remotely. If you need to look back at a design a few years from now, you better hope that your subscription is valid, that Autodesk is still running the license server, and that you have an active internet connection.

The page has well over 100 comments, with many saying the equivalent of "Goodbye, EAGLE; Hello, KiCAD".
KiCAD is gratis and libre, cross-platform, has been adopted as a software development project by nerds at CERN, and has seen marked improvement in recent years.

Previous:
CERN is Getting Serious About Development of the KiCAD App for Designing Printed Circuits
Scripts Make the (Proprietary) Cadsoft EAGLE-to-(FOSS) KiCAD Transition Easier

Some time back, anubi and I conversed about how EAGLE has been DRM'd for quite a long while.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Kell on Saturday January 21 2017, @12:47PM

    by Kell (292) on Saturday January 21 2017, @12:47PM (#456945)

    I was all ready to drop a few grand on a handful of licenses for my lab. But now it'll be Kicad. Subscription is a fool's game for anyone who does real engineering and actually has to support their work long-term. It's simply unprofessional.

    --
    Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Saturday January 21 2017, @01:43PM

    by art guerrilla (3082) on Saturday January 21 2017, @01:43PM (#456960)

    better get used to subscription mode, because it is all the rage among the rentier klass...
    in fact, our company is changing from autocad to an autocad-clone for that reason, among others...

    oh, when i worked for another company that did have the subscription model in place for a whole raft of autodesk products, we never had any issues with the licenses not working right... /s

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Lester on Saturday January 21 2017, @05:06PM

      by Lester (6231) on Saturday January 21 2017, @05:06PM (#457015) Journal

      No problem?

      Find the differences:

      1. I use this product because it's the only in the market the fullfills my needs. They know it and abuse. But, well, it works and it's the best in the market.
      2. I use this product because if I don't I will lose all the work I've been doing for years. They know it and abuse. Now there are better things in the market, but I can't throw into the bin half of my life.

      This is the trick of boiling slowly a frog. Let's not get used, it's now the moment of saying NO, in a few years it could be too late.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 22 2017, @03:50AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 22 2017, @03:50AM (#457248)

        The /s at the end was for "sarcasm". Just like a smiley can change the meaning.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by jmorris on Saturday January 21 2017, @10:42PM

    by jmorris (4844) on Saturday January 21 2017, @10:42PM (#457126)

    Even worse is the subscription model quickly imposes the forced upgrade treadmill. And once they have that they ALWAYS start making changes users hate. Before they couldn't because they had to compete with the older version, once they have forced upgrades though..... lets just say their 'creativity' is unleashed.