pcb-rnd knowledge pool

Abstract: Datasheet-like comparison table of the most important features of pcb-rnd and gEDA/PCB, to help users choosing between the two packages.

This page is intended to help users to chose between pcb-rnd and gEDA/PCB by providing an objective comparison on various properties (as of 2019).

Major features

property	pcb-rnd	gEDA/PCB
data model: explicit/editable mask and paste layers	yes	no
data model: footprint with no restriction	yes (subcircuits) - footprint can host anything a board can	no - only pins, limited SMD pads, limited pins, silk lines and silk arcs
data model: layer concept	clearly defined physical and logical layers; compositing layers (additive, subtractive) on silk, mask and paste	mixed physical/logical layer concept; no compositing layers
data model: user defined layer	yes - arbitrary documentation/misc layers	no - have to abuse copper layers
data model: padstacks, slots	yes - plated and unplated slots, distinguishable from board outline	no - special/restricted pin, pad and via objects, no real slotting
ability to load/save other EDA file formats	rich (kicad, eagle, protel/autotrax, PADS, geda/pcb, etc.)	none
embedded scripting	pcb-rnd actions and 10 different turing complete languages (including: awk, lua, python, perl)	pcb actions (not turing complete)
Flexible Design Rule Checker (DRC)	yes - modular, user scriptable, DRC scripts are easy to share; DRC rules from netlist import	no - hardwired C code
support: bugfix turnaround	bugreport reaction times typically measured in hours or days	bugfixes tend to take months or years before hitting a release
development pace	2..4 months between releases; releases include major feature improvements	about a year between releases; releases mostly include minor features
distro packaging support	official debian, mageia, fedora; unofficial/user: arch, various BSDs	any major distro
import netlist formats	tEDAx (works with sch-rnd , xschem, gschem, lepton) and more than a 10+ other formats (e.g. orcad, protel, pads, accel, tinycad, ...)	its own netlist file format (works with gschem and lepton), tinycad
footprint formats	various common footprint formats (including BXL, eagle and geda/pcb), transparent format detection and load	supports only its own native .fp format
footprint access	modularized footprint access: plugin for file system access, plugin for cloud access through HTTP	loads only static file footprints from the file system
footprint generation	support for extensible, dynamically generated parametric footprints , with GUI parameter dialogs (with the GTK HID); footprint generators implemented in any programming language	m4 footprint generation; no GUI support
GUI support	gtk4+gl, gtk2+gl, gtk2+gdk, lesstif - runtime selectable, dynamic loadable plugins	gtk2+gl, gtk2+gdk, lesstif - compile time selectable, static linked
portability	Linux, BSD, any UNIX system with motif (C89, no GNU dependency), windows	Linux, BSD, modern UNIX systems (C99+, requires glib and may depend on GNU), windows
license	GPL2+	GPL2+

Minor features

property	pcb-rnd	gEDA/PCB
translations	English only	multiple languages
documentation	user manual: html (pdf); auxiliary/contributed: knowledge pool	user manual: texi (html, pdf); doxygen; auxiliary/contributed: wiki
configuration system	scconfig (./configure && make && make install is always enough; dependency: C89)	autotools (./configure && make && make install; may require autogen.sh, libtool; dependency: auto*, m4)
native file format	lihata (tree structured text, named fields)	custom text format, positional parameters, missing tree representation
runtime configuration	unified tree structure, key/value/type; mechanism for dealing with system, user, project, file and session level configs, including list merges	flat key=value settings model
modularization	majority of the code in plugins; plugins can be configured to be static linked, dynamic linked or not compiled at all; automatic dependency handling between plugins	majority of the code in core; majority of the features are static linked compile time on/off; some can be compiled for dynamic load
autorouter	90 degree box based (internal); topological with route-rnd (extrnal); plugin for freerouting (extrnal); flexible support for external autorouters (dsn, tEDAx)	90 degree box based (internal); topological (internal)