QUCS
--------

QUCS is alright. It does verilog-a, I think it can load SPICE files, has a
decent parts library, enables parametric plotting of circuit parameters, can do
basic transmission line and PCB layout simulations, etc. I found "A Qucs
Tutorial for RF" helpful for getting started; the default tutorial is also
good.

On debian wheezy, install the following (some are probably not necessary, like
cmake):

    sudo aptitude install libxml-libxml-perl libgd-gd2-perl zlib1g zlib1g-dev libgd2-xpm-dev libxml2 libxml2-dev libxml-perl libqt4-dev libqt4-qt3support automake libtool gperf flex bison cmake

Then follow the build directions at
https://github.com/Qucs/qucs/wiki/Build-Linux. You don't need to set the
``--prefix``, but you do need ``--enable-maintainer-mode``. You probably want
to ``make -j8`` to build faster.

Within QUCS, one "gotcha" is that simulating only creates a simulation engine
and dataset; you then need to go to (or create) a data pane (seperate sheet
from the circuit schematic) to visualize the results.


Lattice FPGA Dev Tools
---------------------------

Lattice Semi offers no-cost software development tools for their FPGA parts,
called Lattice Diamond. The toolchain is based on Synopsys Synplify Pro for
synthesis and Aldec Active-HDL for simulation, and runs on Linux.

First you need to register for an account to get a free license, and agree to a
EULA. Doves cry. Generate a free license following a link from the "Licensing"
tab of the Diamond Software page. It's a 1.2 GB download, which is way smaller
than Xilinx ISE. The below was tested with version 3.1 for 64 bit linux.

The IDE comes as an .rpm file for Fedora/RedHat. To install on debian/ubuntu,
the 'alien' tool can be used to convert this to a .deb. This process can take a
long time, particularly at the "debian/rules binary" step. Run::

    sudo alien --to-deb --scripts diamond_3_1-base_x64-96-x86_64-linux.rpm

Then install the package:

    sudo dpkg -i diamond_3_1*.deb