"Marra" wrote in message
...
Anyone who has put the effort into writing a "full" PCB software
package is not going to give it away.

This is true, but from an *end user* perspective something like what
ExpressPCB and Advanced Circuits does might as well be the next best thing to
free: They create or license reasonably full PCB software (especially in the
case of Advanced Circuits) and presumably pay for it off of profits made from
fabricating the boards... which ends up being much cheaper (really, probably
no more than a few dollars per design) for a hobbyist who isn't cranking out
dozens of PCB designs every year and doesn't have particularly high-end
requirements.