On May 4, 2008, at 12:38 AM, James E. Bailey wrote:
Am 04.05.2008 um 05:59 schrieb Paul Scott:
On May 3, 2008, at 6:44 PM, plasmacarwash wrote:
Dear James,
Actually I was wondering, once we set the time signature and choose which
value our notes will be (half, quart, eighth) -does the program
automatically create the desired bars?
The appropriate measures?
I assume it does after that input.
Have you read the tutorial?
We can help you better if you show us what you have tried.
I'm sorry, if this is rude, but this is a real pet peeve of mine.
No problem. I thought about putting a smiley in my message. Rather than saying, "Oh, okay, try in section 1.2.1.1 of the lilypond documentation or section 2 of the learning manual" people, especially in GNU or open software, simply reply with "RTFM".
If I had a clue as to what he did or didn't understand I could have been more explicit.
Okay, I started with lilypond version 2.6 and let me tell you all something, lilypond was the first open-source program that I as an end-user dealt with. The documentation was very confusing, I didn't read it every day, and even when I did read it, I didn't understand it.
When I started (I believe before version 2) I didn't even know where the documentation was. I was one of those who expected the key signature to set accidentals like the point-and-click programs did. :)
An answer like, "have you read the tutorial" implies that the person questioning hasn't read the tutorial. I'll tell you all a little secret, I've never read the tutorial. It's far too complicated. I'm not a computer programmer, I'm a composer. I don't understand scheme functions, I don't want to understand scheme functions, I just want an easy way to typeset music that isn't as frustrating as finale and doesn't require such bloated software. I understand that the documentation attempts to cover the questions people would have about how to use the program, and that the getting started and first steps are designed (and do a pretty good job of) getting new users started and showing them the first steps, but the documentation is kind of daunting, and finding information in it is sometimes overwhelming. Especially when you, as a new user of open-source software are thinking, "this is a pretty easy and straightforward question, I've used documentation before, why can't I find the answer to my question?"
If you read his questions, you can see that he's probably started reading the manual,
That wasn't clear to me. It wasn't even clear that he knew that LilyPond wasn't point-and-click. but hasn't actually typeset any music. It looks to me like he's just wondering how things work. Regardless, "have you read the tutorial" without specific reference to where in the tutorial he should read is a pretty daunting task. I think of it like if somewhere were to ask, "what's that bit about loving your neighbor?
I would have the same problem and would ask for clarification. Does that just mean the person who lives next door to me?" and the answer is, "well, have you read the bible?" The two are pretty similar. He does a great job of asking specific questions, and "have you read the tutorial" is about as bad an answer as the question "how does the program work?" Those kinds of questions are non-specific and don't help anyone.
Just to let you know, I tried using lilypond at versioin 2.6, but I couldn't because the documentation was completely confusing and people who understood the program were unwilling to help me. This was my very first question to this user list: On 26-Dec-05, at 4:16 PM, address@hidden wrote:
Hello, I'm very new to this and trying to figure out how to get output. I can modify the file I find online and get output, but somehow I'm missing some information to correctly parse a file. I'm trying to find some help in the documentation (both online and in the pdf) and cannot understand what I need to get output.
Here's what I have:
{ /clef treble
\time 2/4
r8 <<d'8 fis'8 g'8>> r8 <<c'8 es'8 as'8>> r8 <<d'8 fis'8 g'8>> r8 <<e'8 f'8 c""8>>
}
\version "2.6.0" % necessary for upgrading to future LilyPond versions.
That's far more clear than this user's post. If he reads this thread hopefully he will understand that we are trying to help. :)
Have a great day,
Paul
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