[Dave Flowerday]

I use EESchema from KiCAD for schematic capture and have always used FreePCB for PCB layout, though for my next project I'm going to try again using the PCBnew from the KiCAD suite. I didn't like PCBnew before because of issues with doing zone fills, but I think it's gotten better (but not excellent) in that area. I also use the free version of ViewMate to check my gerber files. I've also heard that TinyCAD works pretty well with FreePCB but I didn't like it as much as EESchema. One more note is that the KiCAD suite is cross-platform (Linux, Windows, and Mac I believe) if that is important to you.

Another note is that the author of FreePCB seems to have a background in FIRST. I don't know what team or if he's still active, though.

I've produced at least a dozen or so different boards with this combination, and while I'm sure it's not anywhere near as nice as a package like Altium, it does the job. I've had all my PCBs professionally made, but you can always just print out the gerbers 1:1 on a laser for toner transfer.