X-Git-Url: https://git.donarmstrong.com/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=Documentation%2Fuser%2Fpreface.itely;h=54dc1232d0d3bf057c1ef947fa2e185662a00afc;hb=62bd8f673cb93c886334082489274803932297da;hp=9cd0714f97da269c23ec7ca711f2ff36c9a565b7;hpb=c5dcd1764a635088bea85e46e0f5be3d3b134a3f;p=lilypond.git diff --git a/Documentation/user/preface.itely b/Documentation/user/preface.itely index 9cd0714f97..54dc1232d0 100644 --- a/Documentation/user/preface.itely +++ b/Documentation/user/preface.itely @@ -1,63 +1,59 @@ -@comment @c -*-texinfo-*- +@c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*- +@c This file is part of lilypond.tely +@ignore + Translation of GIT committish: FILL-IN-HEAD-COMMITTISH + + When revising a translation, copy the HEAD committish of the + version that you are working on. See TRANSLATION for details. +@end ignore + +@c \version "2.11.38" @node Preface @unnumbered Preface It must have been during a rehearsal of the EJE (Eindhoven Youth -Orchestra), somewhere in 1995 that Jan, one of the cranked violists told -Han-Wen, one of the distorted french horn players, about the grand new -project he was working on. It was an automated system for printing -music (to be precise, it was MPP, a preprocessor for MusiXTeX). As it -happened, Han-Wen accidentally wanted to print out some parts from a -score, so he started looking at the software, and he quickly got hooked. -It was soon decided that MPP was a dead end. After lots of -philosophizing and heated e-mail exchanges Han-Wen started LilyPond in -1996. This time, Jan got sucked into Han-Wen's new project. - -A stable release, like version 1.6 is a good moment to contemplate the -past and the present. Looking back we notice something curious: when -we started, we mistook our naivite for self confidence, and our -interested was piqued by music typography. LilyPond was our pet -project. Somewhere along the line, it grew out of our hands. Today, we -can't tell whether we are doing LilyPond, or LilyPond is doing -us. Working on it has become more than a simple hobby. We're not sure -how this happened, but we think - - overestimated our slef the combination of high energy strong - - - - one thing that -stands out. Somewhere - - -[TODO some more here.] - -LilyPond would have been a far less useful program without the input -of incountable number of individuals. We would like to thank all users -that sent bugreports, gave suggestions or contributed code. We would -especially like to thank the following people: Jean-Baptiste Lamy for -providing Tablature support, Mats Bengtsson for the incountable newbie -questions that he answered on the mailing list. Chris Jackson for -various piano support code, Heikki Junes for taking care of the -Emacs-mode, Glen Prideaux for implementing lyric-phrasing. Juergen -Reuter for the ancient notation support, Rune Zedeler for many code -improvements All translators that helped translate the error messages. -Jeremie Lumbroso, - -@ignore - should mention many more people, these are from AUTHORS -@end ignore - - -We always maintain that wrote this program to satisfy our curiosity, -to have fun together, to help people, but ultimately, LilyPond is a -way to express our deep love for music. May it help you create lots of -beautiful music! +Orchestra), somewhere in 1995 that Jan, one of the cranked violists, +told Han-Wen, one of the distorted French horn players, about the +grand new project he was working on. It was an automated system for +printing music (to be precise, it was MPP, a preprocessor for +MusiXTeX). As it happened, Han-Wen accidentally wanted to print out +some parts from a score, so he started looking at the software, and he +quickly got hooked. It was decided that MPP was a dead end. After +lots of philosophizing and heated email exchanges, Han-Wen started +LilyPond in 1996. This time, Jan got sucked into Han-Wen's new +project. + +In some ways, developing a computer program is like learning to play +an instrument. In the beginning, discovering how it works is fun, and +the things you cannot do are challenging. After the initial excitement, +you have to practice and practice. Scales and studies can be dull, and +if you are not motivated by others -- teachers, conductors or +audience -- it is very tempting to give up. You continue, and gradually +playing becomes a part of your life. Some days it comes naturally, and +it is wonderful, and on some days it just does not work, but you keep +playing, day after day. + +Like making music, working on LilyPond can be dull work, and on +some days it feels like plodding through a morass of bugs. +Nevertheless, it has become a part of our life, and we keep doing it. +Probably the most important motivation is that our program actually +does something useful for people. When we browse around the net we +find many people who use LilyPond, and produce impressive pieces of +sheet music. Seeing that feels unreal, but in a very pleasant way. + +Our users not only give us good vibes by using our program, many of +them also help us by giving suggestions and sending bug reports, so we +would like to thank all users that sent us bug reports, gave +suggestions or contributed in any other way to LilyPond. + +Playing and printing music is more than a nice analogy. Programming +together is a lot of fun, and helping people is deeply satisfying, but +ultimately, working on LilyPond is a way to express our deep love for +music. May it help you create lots of beautiful music! Han-Wen and Jan Utrecht/Eindhoven, The Netherlands, July 2002. -