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CERN Open Sources Its KiCad Component Libraries 66

Posted by BeauHD from the OSS-FTW dept.
Ancient Slashdot reader ewhac writes: CERN, a longtime Open Source pioneer, has made several contributions over the years to KiCad ("KEE-kad"), an Open Source EDA (Electronic Design Automation) package widely used in the hobbyist and professional electronics communities. It's gotten so widely used that users can now submit their KiCad design files directly to several electronics fabricators (rather than the traditional step of converting the layouts to Gerber files). Over the years, CERN has also developed their own symbol and footprint libraries to support their own internal electronic designs. Last week, CERN released those KiCad component libraries, containing over 17,000 symbols, under the CERN Open Hardware License.

CERN Open Sources Its KiCad Component Libraries More | Reply

CERN Open Sources Its KiCad Component Libraries

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  • Taxpayer-funded should always mean Open Source (Score:5, Insightful)

    by greytree ( 7124971 ) on Wednesday May 13, 2026 @08:08AM (#66141297)
    The people of Europe fund CERN through their taxes, so all of CERN's inventions should ALL be Open Source by default.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's been open source for decades. You're using their protocol to access slashdot right now.

    • Typically that is something that is negotiated. A company (which often includes government created corporate entities) can offer a lower rate if they retain IP rights as that offers the opportunity to monetize. For example, CSIRO [csiro.au] licenses technology that was funded by taxpayers and revenue from licensing IP.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by greytree ( 7124971 )
        "Typically that is something that is negotiated."

        And my point is that it should not be - If you use the public's tax money to make something, the public have rights to the IP of that thing

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Everybody uses the public's tax money. You do, your employer does. That by itself isn't much of an argument.

          Is there something specific you think CERN should open source that they haven't?

          • CERN is wholly funded by its member states.

            They own it. So their people get the stuff it makes.

            This is not about individual creations but the simple fact that the people who fund CERN are the owners of what it makes and CERN should not be preventing them from accessing what they own.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by pjt33 ( 739471 )

          Even if you want to see things in black and white, eliminating private ownership of scientific journals seems like it should be a higher priority than preventing public organisations from self-funding by licensing their output. But it's a red herring anyway in this case: the title should really be "CERN publishes its KiCad component libraries". And there there are interesting questions about the cost/benefit of putting in the effort to make the internal product available externally.

        • So, if SpaceX is awarded a US government contract, and they use that money to design a rocket, every American taxpayer should be able to get their hands on that design?

          • <sigh>

            If Spacex was an organization wholly funded by taxpayer dollars, yes.

            But it is not, so no.

            • No need to sigh buddy. It's OK to admit that you haven't thought things through.

              You categorically stated that "if you use the public's tax money to make something, the public have rights to the IP of that thing", and now you need to start splitting hairs because your position is untenable.

              For the record, CERN is its own separate legal entity, and is not wholly funded by European taxpayer money.

    • Now do the USA.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Himmy32 ( 650060 )
        The US might not be as effective, but US federally funded labs like SLAC, Fermilab, Argonne, and Brookhaven aren't "slacking" in providing good shared open science data. As for the Open Source Software side of the equation gets a lot more political [archives.gov].

      • Speaking as a Conservative in the U.S.A., I agree. If the government funds it (and it's not classified for National Security reasons,) it should be open source, and that includes everything. Tech, materials science, pharmaceuticals, etc. Full stop.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      So Europeans should get the CERN's software free as in beer, not Americans, Chinese, Russians, etc. Open Source has nothing to do with it per se. That's as far as your argument goes, no further.

    • Way to look a gift horse in the mouth.

    • Weird place to be complaining about (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Himmy32 ( 650060 ) on Wednesday May 13, 2026 @11:05AM (#66141527)

      CERN has pragmatically delivered arguably the best return on investment for Open Science data and contribution back to Open Source projects. Best effort contribution is about being a good steward of the resources given especially when the funding is really for the science data.

      Of any place that could be criticized about doing their work in the open, CERN is probably the worst target. Their whole organization is driven open science [wikipedia.org] principles and policies. I personally have been at conferences with CERN presenters [sched.com] on how they are contributing back to Open Source projects. They already go above and beyond with the resources that they are given.

      Being the best steward with good policies and principles is different than a short sighted requirement of distributing and maintaining everything. And what they have already delivered proves that they are doing things correctly.

      • This is not about "contributing back to Open Source projects". That is something every company using Open Source code is morally obliged to do.

        This is about stopping organizations funded by the people from hiding from those people the products those people paid for.

        Want to help the people and have a good mission ? We'll fund you.

        Want to keep secrets ? Get your own fucking funding.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Himmy32 ( 650060 )

          What exactly are you accusing them of hiding? What grounds do you have to say that they haven't helped people and delivered on a overwhelming positive mission? Have you looked at the list of what they have released [gitlab.com]? Their dedication to Open Hardware is staggeringly impressive. And in this case translating their symbol library to an open tool that they originally developed and continue to contribute to...

          Frankly, either you don't understand what they have done / how they operate or aren't debating honestly.

          • He watches Fox News and was told to be angry about what Europe does instead of seeing what his own country is up to.

          • Again, this is not about "contributing back to Open Source projects". That is something every company using Open Source code is morally obliged to do.

            This is about the people who fund an organization owning everything that organizations produces.

            By default.
            Not because they decide to dribble some stuff out.

            Frankly, that is not hard to understand, so I guess you aren't debating honestly.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Himmy32 ( 650060 )

              Providing Open Hardware design is releasing to the public ownership what they produced. They used software tools and released designs in the linked repositories. They then went above and beyond and took the symbols and components and compiled them together and released them for a different Open Source tool that they released and have supported. So what they released in this article wasn't something they were hoarding, it was extra effort for public good. Added to this they have policies and procedures and a

              • You are arguing that because they did this, all of CERN's inventions that the people of Europe paid for are ALL Open Source.

                It sure looks like you don't know or are unable to grasp what is going on.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's not that simple, because some of the data in there might be proprietary. Sometimes manufacturers of electronic components only let you have them if you sign an NDA. Accidentally releasing even stuff like schematic symbols and associated notes could cause problems for CERN.

      I had a quick look because this is of great interest to me, and it seems like they don't have any 3D models. My guess would be that it's for licencing reasons, because even though the models are often freely provided on manufacturer w

  • I've been an electrical engineer a long time and I've never heard anyone pronounce it keekad, nor is it written that way. If you see anyone call it that say "hi" to them for me.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by aitikin ( 909209 )

      I mean, when the project leader [youtube.com] calls it that, it kinda implies it should be pronounced that way... How do you pronounce it?

      • Sure, but how often does that work out? Do you say Lie-nux, Lynn-nux, or Lee-nux?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        I've heard it both ways - Kee-cad is a popular one, but Keye-kad (short i - think aye, or the "ki" from "kite")

        So far that's the only two pronunciations I've heard

      • I mean, when the project leader [youtube.com] calls it that, it kinda implies it should be pronounced that way... How do you pronounce it?

        Yeah but that's sort of irrelevant isn't it. Just because the creator of the GIF weighs in on the matter didn't settle that argument either. If you need to write out how to pronounce something then you spelled it poorly. It's sort of a lost argument when the general population uses a different name than the one you think you were using.

        Literally zero people. I've been using the software for decades and literally today was the first time I learned that someone thinks it was pronounced by a dolphin.

        How do you pronounce it?

        I think yo

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by aitikin ( 909209 )

          I think you missed the part of my post where I said you should say hi to people. Or do you go into work in the morning and say "hee boss how was your weekend. ;-)"

          How do you pronounce the Muslim head covering, "Hijab"? Why would a Frenchman (Jean-Pierre Charras) be expected to pronounce 'i' like we do in English?

          I go into my boss's office to yell about stupid customers and stupid company policies. ;-D

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jimll ( 1642281 )
      Ditto... I've always assumed it was KEYE-KAD. Isn't pronunciation fun, eh?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      It's French. The French guy who created it calls it key-cad because, in French, it is indeed written that way:

      https://youtu.be/V9y8H2JMRow?s... [youtu.be]

      If you're American it's not terribly surprising you've never heard it pronounced that way. You may have never heard croissant, champagne, or St. Louis pronounced or seen connaisseur spelled correctly either. The single syllable "ki" is even more subject to anglicisation, especially if even a few popularisers pronounce it that way.

      KiCad seems to support both pronuncia

      • If you're American it's not terribly surprising you've never heard it pronounced that way.

        I'm not. Nor are any of the people I've worked with using KiCAD save for one or two. Point is, I've been using this for 20 years and have never heard it pronounced that way. It seem so strange to see someone write it in a Slashdot post as if it is relevant.

        As to the original author, I've not met him, I've only met users, so the creator's thoughts are sort of irrelevant. Maybe one day I'll go to France and meet a PCB designer there.

        • Letter i is pronounced like word "bit" (short) or "key" (long) on the European continent. English is the one that differs from the group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          I've only met users, so the creator's thoughts are sort of irrelevant.

          It's stuff like this that makes donating your time to open source the most rewarding thing in the world.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Himmy32 ( 650060 )
      The original creator was French [wikipedia.org] and I believe Ki in French would be pronounced like "Key" would be in English. Thus the association with CERN should be pretty unsurprising that there's a lot of very smart people there who don't have English as their first language.

    • Next you'll be telling me that GIF isn't pronounced like "whiff".

  • Well, that's certainly very kind of them, not least because one of the other big libraries (alternatekicadlibrary.com) seems to have gone a bit quiet with no update since Aug 2024.

  • converted (Score:4, Informative)

    by ZipNada ( 10152669 ) on Wednesday May 13, 2026 @11:02AM (#66141523)

    Apparently CERN doesn't actually use KiCAD. "The libraries are the result of automatically converting the original Altium Designer source libraries". And "3D models and datasheets are not included" which is unfortunate, it is very handy to be able to see a 3D rendering of your layout.

    • Nearly 100% of the time I get the 3d model of a part from Digikey.

    • While I agree a 3D model is handy it is mainly so for mechanically complex situations - components placed such that they may conflict with other components over them, interact with a board in a stacked configuration, or how the board fits in a tight enclosure (at which point a full 3D model is basically essential for modern miniaturised designs.

      But for 99% of the people using KiCAD for hobbies the view without part models is sufficient.

  • /. , I am disappoint (Score:3)

    by Thud457 ( 234763 ) on Wednesday May 13, 2026 @12:48PM (#66141791) Homepage Journal
    All this nattering about licensing and we haven't yet had one comment -

    Finally, I can finish the large hadron collider I'm building in my backyard!

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Himmy32 ( 650060 )
      Yeah, the availability of those pesky hardware symbols was all that was holding me back. And the miles of required land, billions of dollars, and support of the some of the brightest minds...

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