I just installed and run the 5.0rc2 release from the KiCAD ppa on ubuntu. The library is speedy, it's really easy to find parts. They are also separating the

I just installed and run the 5.0rc2 release from the KiCAD ppa on ubuntu. The library is speedy, it's really easy to find parts. They are also separating the Kicad Library into it's own github repo, which should make it simple to add and update parts. Footprints can be imported from an image directly (which means you could scan a part and save the raw jpeg.) The only trick is that you need to know the X&Y dpi for the image. This means you could calculate from scanning a ruler, or by editing/cleaning up the the image in a photo editor and then importing it directly into kicad.