KiCad 4.0.6 recently released, is an EDA software suite for the creation of professional schematics and printed circuit boards up to 16 layers. This release contains some critical bug fixes and other minor improvements. One notable change was the replacement of the Avhttp library with the libcurl library when building the GitHub plugin. This should allow Linux distributions that are not compatible with the OpenSSL library license to distribute KiCad with the GitHub plugin enabled. Before we proceed on how to install kicad on Ubuntu, lets take a quick look at its features.
Kicad Feratures
- Kicad features the schematic editor which allows you to create your design without limit; hence there are no paywalls to unlock features. An official library for schematic symbols as well as a built-in schematic symbol editor help you get started quickly with your designs.
- It make professional PCB layouts with up to 32 copper layers. KiCad now has a push and shove router which is capable of routing differential pairs as well as interactively tuning trace lengths.
- KiCad includes a 3D viewer which you can use to inspect your design in an interactive canvas. You can rotate and pan around to inspect details that are difficult to inspect on a 2D view. Multiple rendering options allow you to modify the aesthetic appearance of the board or to hide and show features for easier inspection.
KiCad 4.0.6 Changelog
- Pcbnew: fix an issue where path separators are not translated from in Windows to / on Unix.
- Pcbnew: fix a potential incompatibility (due to an old bug) with files which could be created by some recent Pcbnew versions.
- Eeschema: fix rotate bug in symbol library editor
- Replace avhttp with libcurl.
- Pcbnew: do not use default board solder mask clearance in footprint editor.
- Pcbnew: fix a potential bug with a GAL canvas method
- Eeschema: reorder toolbar slightly
How to install KiCad 4.0.6 on Ubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 14.04
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:js-reynaud/kicad-4 sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install kicad
How to uninstall kicad from Ubuntu
sudo apt-get remove kicad
