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.
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