+This is the toplevel README to LilyPond
+***************************************
+ 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.
+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. 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.
-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, formatting
-scores, part extraction. It includes a nice font of musical
-symbols.
+ 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.
-1: VERSIONING
+Requirements
+============
- if you have downloaded a *.pre* version, then this is
-version is *not* meant for producing nice output (but to
-keep your patchsets up to date). It might not even compile.
-The same goes for a version with a 4th version number, eg
-1.2.3.mypatch2 It will be safer if you download 1.2.3 or
-wait for 1.2.4.
+ For the compilation and running of LilyPond you need some additional
+packages. Please refer to the installation instructions.
-2: REQUIREMENTS
+ NOTE: If you downloaded a binary (.rpm or a W95/NT .zip file), you
+don't have to compile LilyPond.
- 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.
+Installation
+============
-3: INSTALLATION
+ For your convenience, a formatted copy of the INSTALL instructions
+are in the toplevel directory, as INSTALL.txt
- For your convenience, a formatted copy of the INSTALL
-instructions are in the toplevel directory, as INSTALL.txt
-The process is fairly straightforward, but chances are that
-you have to specify directories for to configure: this is
-done with the options --enable-tex-dir and --enable-mf-dir
+Documentation
+=============
-4: DOCUMENTATION
+ The real documentation is the directory Documentation/
- The real documentation is the directory Documentation/
-To generate the pretty-printed docs, you have to run config-
-ure first, and then do this: make doc 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
+ 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.
-5: COMMENTS
+ * use HTML. Point your browser to
+ `http://www.cs.uu.nl/~hanwen/lilypond/index.html'.
- LilyPond is a long way from finished and polished. We
-do appreciate criticism, comments, bugreports, patches, etc.
-Please send your e-mail to one of the MAILING LISTS and not
-to us personally. See Documentation/links.yo for more info.
+ * use `.dvi', for the tutorial and reference manual. Do
-6: DOZE
+ make -C Documentation/user/ dvi
- If you have received this file as part of a DOS/Win-
-dow32 distribution (lilypond-*.zip), then it is advisable to
-also download the source package, since it might contain
+ You need a working LilyPond binary to create the DVI and HTML
+ sources.
+ * use ASCII. Do using
+ make doc
-more documentation 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.
-7: CAVEATS
+Comments
+========
- * Please read the file BUGS for some ugly bugs. This
-especially applies Linux-Intel unix users. * If you have
-installed a previous version, be sure to remove old font
-files, eg
+ LilyPond is a long way from finished and polished. We do appreciate
+criticism, comments, bugreports, patches, etc., but please,
+ Please send your e-mail to one of the MAILING LISTS
+ and _not_ to us personally. We have the following mailing lists:
+ * 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.
- rm `find /var/lib/texmf/fonts -name 'feta*'`
+ * help-gnu-music@gnu.org
+ (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnu-music) For help
+ with using LilyPond.
+
+ * 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.
+Windows 32
+==========
+ 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/'
+ If you decide to build LilyPond from source, please read the
+INSTALL.txt document first, especially the Windows NT/95 section.
-a script to do this for you is in bin/cleanfonts.sh
+Caveats
+=======
+
+ 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'
-8: CDROM DISTRIBUTIONS
+Bugs
+====
+ 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. If possible,
-please check the latest version of LilyPond before reporting
-bugs.