Re: FAQ for LilyPond

[Graham Percival]

On 19-Mar-06, at 4:57 PM, Cameron Horsburgh wrote:

> For the last few weeks I've been toying with the idea of beginning an 
> FAQ for LilyPond. I haven't really done much yet, besides flag a few 
> questions on the LilyPond lists that might be good candidates.
>
> Before I start doing anything serious:
> 1) is there a reason why this hasn't been done before?

There's no need?  ... or rather, having one more piece of documentation 
is the last thing we need?

LilyPond documentation:
- manual
- examples on lilypond website
- LSR
- examples on mutopia
- mailing list archives
- lilypond wiki

I try to make adding to the existing documentation as easy as possible. 
 I don't have the time or knowledge to write all the docs myself, but 
if somebody sends me an email with new stuff, I add it very quickly.  
For users, ***adding new material to the docs is easier than writing a 
faq, webpage, or wiki***.  All you need is an email client, some time, 
and some knowledge.  I will take care of everything else.

I try to monitor the mailing lists for FAQs, but sometimes things slip 
through.  Especially vocal/lyric issues -- I don't even understand the 
material that's currently in the docs, so I'm not qualified to write 
new material about lyrics.  If you see something missing in the 2.7 
docs, please tell me what to add and where, and I'll take care of it.


If you're concerned about duplication of effort in the manual, just 
send an email to -devel telling us that you're working on a certain doc 
section.  If somebody else is working on that, they'll let you know.  
If nobody is -- and that's almost certainly the case -- then you can go 
ahead and write stuff.

> 3) would there be enough interest from the LilyPond-guru community to 
> contribute and maintain? I'm happy to make a start, but it would be 
> better if it were a shared effort.

As far as I know, the Lilypond wiki that people started up about six 
months ago is dead.  Does that answer the question?

- Graham