Re: anyone got lilypond 2.16.2 to work on Windows Vista?

[Robert Honore]

On Fri, 02 Aug 2013 18:03:57 -0700 David Rogers wrote:

> Robert: It seems to me that you are working very hard to outsmart
> Lilypond, doing tricks that "should theoretically work if..." some
> particular obscure unreliable condition is met.

David Rogers, let me assure you that I most certainly _DO NOT_ intend to 
"outsmart Lilypond" or attempt "doing tricks" of any sort, whether 
theoretical or otherwise.

> At the risk of sounding dismissive, I'll say: why not just read the
> manual and follow the instructions? They work quite well as printed -
> there's no need to resort to "extracurricular tricks" to make sure
> Lilypond is working.

Which one? do you mean the one found at
        http://www.lilypond.org/windows.html ?
There is no other manual of the ones I found so far that specifically 
refers to the proper procedure for installation or upgrading of 
LilyPond.  Given that you so emphatically recommend that I should read 
the manual, I trust you would be so kind as to provide me with a link to 
the one you have in mind.

> One bad part about Lilypond is that you do have to follow the
> instructions and intentions of the people who programmed it. When they
> say "do it this way", there is nearly always the implication
> "... because no other way will work", or at least "no other way gives
> any guarantee".

So far, Sir, I have been simply trying to get my upgrade of LilyPond to 
work.  Thus far, I have not been able, despite having followed the 
instructions given on the website referred to above, and taking all the 
defaults, to get my installation of LilyPond to work.  Despite having 
used LilyPond on the same machine before, and having previously 
succeeded at getting it to work well enough for me that I 
enthusiastically recommended it to my friends who also produce music, I 
have not been able to get it to work for me this time.  Honestly, Sir, I 
do believe that I _HAD_ followed the instructions for installing 
LilyPond to the letter, with the possible exception that I had initially 
attempted to install over the previous installation of LilyPond.  When I 
did make that error, the installer gave me the appropriate warning 
message that I should uninstall the previously installed LilyPond prior 
to installing the new version, and then aborted the installation.

By the way, Sir, what exactly do you mean by the expression, "One bad 
part about Lilypond"?  My experience with LilyPond over the last seven 
years have been nothing but superlative.  Really, I have not found any 
part of LilyPond that I have been unhappy with.  That is why I recommend 
it to any of my friends who have a need to typeset music.

> Another bad part is simply that Lilypond is quite a
> large collection of code; unless you wrote a large chunk of that code
> yourself, it's safe to assume that you don't know how it ought to work
> except by being told - either by those who *have* written large chunks
> of it, or by those who use it on a daily basis and have become very
> familiar with it.

LilyPond is indeed quit a large collection of code, but let me hasten to 
add that I find it quite an elegant collection of code.  I have even 
found myself perusing the internals documentation, as well as the source 
code sometimes.  But mind you: I am no programmer.  I just enjoy 
learning more about how such a lovely product was put together.

> Occasionally things do change - make sure you're reading the manuals and
> instructions for the Lilypond version you're really using, and not
> simply hoping that outdated methods will still (by chance) work.

Indeed I can only agree with you there, Sir.  I just hope the 
instructions on the web page I referred to above are indeed the correct 
ones for the current version of LilyPond.  If indeed I was using the 
wrong instructions, perhaps someone would be minded to refer me to the 
correct documentation, perhaps by providing a link.

> --
> David R


Yours sincerely,
Robert Honoré.