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From: ricks@shambhala.Berkeley.EDU (Rick L Spickelmier)
Newsgroups: comp.lsi,comp.lsi.cad
Subject: Re: octtools or Menter Graphics' package (help wanted)
Keywords: Oct, VLSI packages
Message-ID: <17885@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 30 Sep 89 22:22:38 GMT
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Reply-To: ricks@berkeley.edu
Organization: UC Berkeley IC CAD Group
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At the very least, you should get the latest Oct Tools, version
3.4.  As far as how they compare, the Oct Tools are the result
of University research, are supported to a limited degree, run
on many machines, have limited documentation, come with full source,
and are free.  The Mentor tool suite is the result of professional
CAD tool builders, are fully supported, run on the Apollo, has binders
and binders of documentation, and costs you money.  Which one you
want to use depends upon what platforms you have, how much money you
have, and how much support you want.

As the manager of the Oct Tools distribution,  I can say that there
are many happy users of the Oct Tools, although there are some problems.
The Oct Tools are used primarily in Universities (for VLSI and CAD tool
courses, and VLSI/CAD research).  They are also used at some Industrial
sites (mainly in CAD research groups).  One major advantage of the Oct 
Tools is that you get all of the source and there is a well defined
procedural interface to the system so you can add your own CAD tools.

For more information on the Oct Tools, mail to 'octtools@eros.Berkeley.EDU'.
There are also various journal and conference papers describing the
framework of the Oct Tools and the tools that make up the distribution.


				Rick Spickelmier
				Oct Tools Manager
				UC Berkeley
				ricks@berkeley.EDU