Free Hardware Design Resources for the Free Software Community

Software

There are a few pieces of software which we have used for our development activities. Whenever possible, we use free software for our activities, as this is our strong preference. Alas, that is not always possible, as some functions are only available in proprietary form. A good example is the software required to develop the programming files for the CPLDs used in these boards. We were fortunate to have a sales representative who provided us a complementary license for the required software (Thank you, Jim Covey and CSR Electronics!) but that in no way makes it free. There is no alternative available software for programming those CPLDs. Furthermore, it has to be hosted on Wxx. Sigh...

Operating System: GNU/Linux

Distribution: Red Hat Fedora Electronic Lab (FEL) - a Fedora GNU/Linux plus a complete electronics setup using free software design tools. Links to both the installable and live CD version

CAD software (proprietary): Eagle, hosted on GNU/Linux: http://www.cadsoft.de/

Editor: Nedit: http://www.nedit.org/
If you're running Fedora, just type "yum install nedit"

Document Development: Lyx: http://www.lyx.org/
If you're running Fedora, just type "yum install lyx"

CPLD Development Tools (propietary, Wxx hosted): Lattice isp DesignExpert HDL: http://www.latticesemi.com/products/devtools/software/des-expert-hdl/index.cfm

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