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Ringdove FAQ

1. running the apps

1.1. Error while loading shared libraries

If the above error message appears and lists librnd-* libs when executing a ringdove app, that means your operating system's dynamic loader is unable to find librnd. Please refer to the 'execution' point of INSTALL for details how to fix this.

2. The Windows port

2.1. Can I run Ringedove on windows?

Yes. You can download precompiled binary packs for x86. The pack contains sch-rnd, pcb-rnd, camv-rnd and associated utilities.

2.2. Can I compile Ringedove on windows?

No. The binary pack is cross-compiled from Linux. There is no support for direct compilation under windows, not with msvc, not with cygwin, not with msys. Please do not report bugs related to compilation attempts on windows.

2.3. Can not download the binpack, the browser says the donwload is insecure.

It's probably because we use http and the binpack is a zip full of exe and dll files. You have to evaluate the risks; you could manually verify the binpack signatures to make sure the files are coming from the Ringdove EDA project. Then disable your browser's block.

The manual verification needs openssl and shell, which is much easier to do on a Linux - maybe the easiest way is to download the windows binary pack on a Linux, do the verification there then copy the files to your windows so you do not need to download them directly using windows.

2.4. Windows refuses to execute the binary pack, why?

We did not purchase certificates and we are not signing our programs in a way that the closed source corporate microsoft world accepts. Later versions of windows classify any such as-is program risky and does everything to prevent you from running such programs. This is probably going to be worse over time. Similar closed platforms typically aim to restrict you to install software only from their own "app store" - not the case with a desktop windows yet, but I wouldn't be surprusied if that was the goal in a decade.

It's up to you to decide how to solve this:

• simply switch to an operating system (e.g. a Linux distribution) and leave behind the corporate FUD
• verify our own signatures on the binary packs and disable the windows "firewall"
• ... or don't verify, trust the binaries blindly and disable the firewall/defender

If you are worried about viruses, better use a real virus scanner, one that actually scans the content, and not the builtin fake one that decides anything without a corporate signature is a virus.

3. Active users: premium support

The project consists of a tiny developer team, a very small active contributor team and a larger passive user base. Since summer of 2025, the policy is that active users get premium support and passive users get a slower standard support service.

Premium support means priority when dealing with support requests and bugreports. When judging feature requests, being an active user helps your case a lot.

Anyone can become an active user by contributing (time or money) to the project. An active user becomes a passive user after some time their contribution stopped.

3.1. How to become an active user

What makes you an active user is investment in something the project needs:

• working on the project in a coordinated manner, making commits to the svn; writing code, doing bugfixes, writing documentation, developing data in one of the centrally maintained subprojects of Ringdove
• working on the project on some non-svn part, but in close coordination; e.g. making publications, giving talks, maintaining wikipedia articles, managing forum/blog (not randomly but in coordination)
• packaging Ringdove for an "official" distro repository
• working on anything within the CUCP project
• participating in _coordinated_ testing of new features or bugfixes
• running/maintaining infrastructure the project is using (typically servers)
• donating hardware to the project
• monetary donation

If you want to become an active user, please contact me.

3.2. What does not make you an active user

• simply using Ringdove, random (uncoordinated) testing
• reporting bugs (unless you proactively helped narrowing the bug down, e.g. by spending considerable amount of time minimizing the test case)
• sharing opinion (participating in email threads or IRC discussion); more generally: communication alone, without doing actual work
• publishing your own work (boards, footprints, symbols, scripts, code) on your own homepage (or sourceforge or github); unless it stirs _measurable_ interest in potential new users