Bringing LilyPad into LilyPond

[Ed Baskerville]

Hi all,

As you've probably seen from my message to the user list, I've  
released a (rather feature-poor) preview of LilyPad, an integrated  
editor/previewer for LilyPond on Mac OS X.

First, an apology to the LilyPond icon designer: I stole it. But that  
theft was meant not as an act of aggression, but as a symbol of  
cooperation: I'd like to bring the LilyPad code into LilyPond itself,  
if there's interest--it just doesn't make sense, for me or for the  
community, to maintain a separate Mac OS X front end, when I could be  
helping to polish up the Mac-ness of the mainline LilyPond.app.

After I wrote the initial code, I was surprised to find some Mac OS X  
niceties work their way into the LilyPond 2.6 release--initially I  
was a little annoyed at the duplicate work, but ultimately pleased  
that things were moving forward on the platform. I promised the  
fruits of LilyPad within the week, and (as usual) got sidetracked.  
(Advice: never promise to release software while being a traveling  
chamber music minstrel.) But you can now see what I was doing.

So, first, the main question: is there interest in combining the  
existing LilyPond.app with some of the features and approaches of  
LilyPad? If there is interest, I'd be happy to take the reins on OS X  
GUI development--it's what I know best. If somebody else is already  
doing this actively, I'd be happy to alternatively have a smaller,  
supporting role.

If so, the next question: what logistically has to happen to get that  
code in there and to get me involved in the process? I know nothing  
about the development standards, build system, source tree, etc., so  
I'd love some guidance.

Thanks,
Ed