-TITLE INFORMATION: This is the toplevel README to LilyPond
- LilyPond is the GNU Project music typesetter. This program can print
-beautiful sheet music from a music definition file. It can also play
-mechanical performances to a MIDI file. Features include multiple
-staffs, meters, clefs, keys, lyrics, versatile input language, cadenzas,
-beams, slurs, triplets, named chords, transposing, formatting scores,
-part extraction. It includes a nice font of musical symbols.
+This is the toplevel README to LilyPond
+***************************************
-1: VERSIONING
+ LilyPond is a music typesetter. It produces beautiful sheet music
+using a high level description file as input. LilyPond is part of the
+GNU Project.
-LilyPond uses a versioning scheme similar to the Linux kernel. In a
+Versioning
+==========
+
+ LilyPond uses a versioning scheme similar to the Linux kernel. In a
version "x.y.z", an even second number 'y' denotes a stable version.
-For development versions 'y' is odd. For using straightforward score
-production, please use the latest stable version. Development versions
-may not produce good or nice scores.
+For development versions 'y' is odd. So, in theory, version 1.2 is
+stable, which means that there are no glaring errors in it. In practice
+1.2.x is also unmaintained.
+
+ 1.3.x is in healthy development: lots of problems turn up, but
+they're fixed quickly. Therefore we recommend you try 1.2.x, if you
+have any problem with it, upgrade to the latest 1.3.x release.
-2: REQUIREMENTS
+Requirements
+============
-For the compilation and running of LilyPond you need some additional
+ For the compilation and running of LilyPond you need some additional
packages. Please refer to the installation instructions.
-NOTE: If you downloaded a binary (.rpm or a W95/NT .zip file), then
-you don't have to compile LilyPond.
+ NOTE: If you downloaded a binary (.rpm or a W95/NT .zip file), you
+don't have to compile LilyPond.
+
+Installation
+============
+
+ For your convenience, a formatted copy of the INSTALL instructions
+are in the toplevel directory, as INSTALL.txt
+
+Documentation
+=============
+
+ The real documentation is the directory Documentation/
+
+ If you want to read the documentation online, these are options:
+ * use HTML. Refer to INSTALL.txt for information on how to make the
+ HTML documentation.
+
+ * use HTML. Point your browser to
+ `http://www.cs.uu.nl/~hanwen/lilypond/index.html'.
-3: INSTALLATION
+ * use `.dvi', for the tutorial and reference manual. Do
-For your convenience, a formatted copy of the INSTALL instructions are
-in the toplevel directory, as INSTALL.txt
+ make -C Documentation/user/ dvi
-The process is fairly straightforward, but chances are that you have
-to specify directories for TeX to configure: this is done with
-the options --enable-tex-dir and --enable-mf-dir
+ You need a working LilyPond binary to create the DVI and HTML
+ sources.
-4: DOCUMENTATION
+ * use ASCII. Do using
+ make doc
-The real documentation is the directory Documentation/
-To generate the pretty-printed docs, you have to run configure first,
-and then do this:
+Comments
+========
- make doc
+ LilyPond is a long way from finished and polished. We do appreciate
+criticism, comments, bugreports, patches, etc., but please,
-You can also simply read the .yo sources. They are ASCII text.
-The complete documentation is accessible in formatted form at the
-website http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/hanwen/lilypond/index.html
+ Please send your e-mail to one of the MAILING LISTS
-5: COMMENTS
+ and _not_ to us personally. We have the following mailing lists:
-LilyPond is a long way from finished and polished. We do appreciate
-criticism, comments, bugreports, patches, etc.
+ * info-gnu-music@gnu.org
+ (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu-music) is a
+ low-volume list for information on the GNU Music project.
+ This list is moderated; ask David R. Linn <drl@gnu.org> or
+ Han-Wen <hanwen@cs.uu.nl> to send announcements for this list.
- Please send your e-mail to one of the MAILING LISTS
+ * help-gnu-music@gnu.org
+ (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnu-music) For help
+ with using LilyPond.
-and not to us personally. See Documentation/links.yo for more info.
+ * bug-gnu-music@gnu.org
+ (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-gnu-music) If you have
+ bugreports, you should send them to this list.
-6: WINDOWS 32
+Windows 32
+==========
-If you have received this file as part of a DOS/Window32 distribution
-(LilyPond-*.zip), then it is advisable to also download the source
+ If you have received this file as part of a DOS/Window32 distribution
+(`LilyPond-*.zip'), it is advisable to also download the source
package, since it might contain more documentation
-ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/pub/GNU/LilyPond/
+`ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/pub/GNU/LilyPond/'
-If you decide to build LilyPond from source, please read the INSTALL.txt
-document first, especially the Windows NT/95 section.
+ If you decide to build LilyPond from source, please read the
+INSTALL.txt document first, especially the Windows NT/95 section.
-7: CAVEATS
+Caveats
+=======
-* Please read the file BUGS for some ugly bugs.
+ If you have installed a previous version, be sure to remove old font
+files, eg.,
+ rm `find /var/lib/texmf/fonts -name 'feta*'`
-* If you have installed a previous version, be sure to remove old font
-files, eg
-rm `find /var/lib/texmf/fonts -name 'feta*'`
+ a script to do this for you is in `buildscripts/clean-fonts.sh'
-a script to do this for you is in buildscripts/clean-fonts.sh
+Bugs
+====
-8: CDROM DISTRIBUTIONS
+ Send bug reports to <bug-gnu-music@gnu.org>. For help and questions
+use <help-gnu-music@gnu.org> and <gnu-music-discuss@gnu.org>. Please
+consult the FAQ and installation instructions before mailing your
+problems.
-If you have received LilyPond on a cdrom, chances are that development
-has moved a some patchlevels up. Please check the latest version of
-LilyPond before reporting bugs.