Having gone through the whole NSN merge, I hope the Mentor Graphics guys and girls are luckier than we were.
It doesn't have to be done in closed-source silos, people just choose to do it that way. There's open-source EDA software out there: Kicad is my favorite for PCB design. It works better than the PADS software I used years ago, and from what I hear from people using proprietary EDA software currently, the new stuff really isn't any better.
Where do EDA types congregate?
Back when I was at Intel I wasn't aware of anyone frequenting EDA-specific forums. The annual IDC (Intel Developers Conference) was the biggest physical meetup as far as I recall. Also, there were the other company-led events. Very segmented.
Re:Siemens acquires Mentor Graphics
by kevin_thibedeau on Thursday March 30, 2017 @08:01PM
(#14000068)
For IC design the main independent online resource is Deepchip.
I'm not sure this is how it should be (EDA professionals congregrate elsewhere, I assume)... but it kinda sucks. These things are so important to our collective progression, but it's all done in closed-source silos when it comes to hardware things.