Hi Graham,
Firstly, I wanted to add my voice to the chorus of "Thanks!" for all
the work you've done -- Lilypond will miss you. =)
But secondly, I wanted to comment on the following:
I'm spend all my time writing music, so I don't have time!
----------------------------------------------------------
This is my favorite excuse for not getting involved... and by
"favorite", I mean "makes me grind my teeth". If you're a
professional composer and use lilypond every day, then IMO you
should be the _most_ involved, not the least. I mean, if the
heaviest users don't contribute to the project, then who else should?
I'm not saying there *aren't* people out there -- including working
composers -- who could help more than they do.
Nor am I arguing the fact that many people get more out of Lilypond
-- and the work of people like you and the coding team -- than they
put in.
However, I *DO* object to the generalized implication that
"professional composers" who "use Lilypond every day" should be "the
_most_ [visibly] involved [in documentation and coding efforts]" or
else they're "not getting involved".
I'm a professional composer.
I use Lilypond (nearly) every day.
I don't actively (i.e., visibly) contribute to Lilypond code or
documentation... and may not in the near future, despite attempts to
guilt me into doing so. ;-)
Does that mean I'm "not getting involved" and "don't contribute to
the project"?
1. I do more Lilypond "advertising" (i.e., providing positive
exposure) than anyone else I know. I am constantly putting *REAL*
Lilypond scores in front of *REAL* working musicians and composers/
arrangers. On those rare occasions when I don't get unsolicited
comments about the quality of the output, I make a point of telling
anyone who will listen -- and many who won't -- about the benefits of
Lilypond. The colophon of every published score explicitly mentions
Lilypond and points to the website. Once I get my own website up and
running (sometime this month), it will also have Lilypond kudos and
links.
2. As a result of my being one of "the heaviest users" of Lilypond, I
am constantly running into REAL-WORLD engraving problems, the kind
that rarely come up in an "ivory-tower" (i.e., code and docs)
situation. Not only does that mean I help push Lilypond to be a
better program (by finding bugs and feature-holes), but it means that
when another user in the 'Pond runs into similar issues, there's a
good chance that I've got a solution or workaround to offer. And --
as you probably are aware -- I constantly monitor the list, and
contribute said solutions and workarounds when I can.
And finally,
3. I have personally put forward my own hard-earned dollars (well...
Euros) to sponsor features that make Lilypond better. I continue to
post sponsorship offers, though, for the record, nobody has taken me
up on those offers recently. Ironically, I will soon have paid more
*ACTUAL MONEY* for my use of the "free, open-source" Lilypond than I
ever did for the "proprietary, commercial" Finale with all its annual
upgrade fees!
So... if I make you grind your teeth, all I can say is "4 out of 5
dentists recommend Trident". =)
Best regards,
Kieren.
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