Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> writes: > On Aug 8, 2013, at 5:06 AM, Jan-Peter Voigt <jp.vo...@gmx.de> wrote: > >> I'm not that surprised. >> During the last few years I became something nerd-like. After beeing >> a Mac-User for a long time, I now only use Ubuntu or Debian and all >> its related tools for my everyday work. >> So for me using lilypond is a quite natural thing and I am getting >> better and quicker using emacs - well, frescobaldi is still my >> lilyeditor. >> But most people I talk to say something like: "I want switch on my >> computer and immediatly work with my everyday tools without needing >> to touch the keyboard! Beyond the mouse there is a touch-screen ..." >> To see, that one is giving away a lot of control over his own work >> that way, is not a matter of course. > > Difference in end-user philosophy. > > Most computer users do not see themselves giving away that control > because they didn't need it or want it in the first place. Linux > distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, etc., are simply inappropriate > tools for probably 98% of computer users- which is exactly why the > market share of those OSes is what it is.
Uh, that's quite an absurd characterization. If you take a stock GNU/Linux distribution like Ubuntu, it does a lot more painlessly and out of the box for the end user than a stock Windows install. > Most users need a hammer and a screwdriver- Linux is a whole machine > shop. No, it _offers_ a whole machine shop. But the standard desktop from a typical desktop distribution does not get into your way any more than a standard Windows desktop. > For the people who need the machine shop, Linux is the thing they > want. For the people who prefer the machines coming with a Linux desktop distribution over the machines they can buy for Windows (and you can buy a lot!). > Most people want to use their computer like they use a refrigerator or > a toaster: just use it, no reading of documentation necessary. Uh, my 77-year old computer-illiterate mother runs an Ubuntu installation because I refused continuing to support a system I don't even use. Do you think she _ever_ read a piece of documentation? She does not even know the names of GUI elements. Makes for challenging phone support. > Similarly LilyPond is probably not the most appropriate tool for most > people just looking to print out some chord charts for their coffee > house open mic night. I don't think that it's presented as the tool > for those folks- LilyPond is aimed at the people who want that > fine-grained control over output (although for people like me, writing > lead sheets for jazz combos, the default ways of doing things works > well for almost everything and only a few tweaks are necessary. A few > minutes and I've got charts for everyone that are vastly more readable > than Real Book charts). I find it faster than MuseScore, which I also > tried, and the output is vastly better than Finale. LilyPond has a learning curve. It's perfectly feasible for quick and dirty work once you get beyond that. > I don't really know who Steinberg's target market is, although it > looks like it is more towards the LilyPond end of things. Well, LilyPond has no user interface. You write files in its file format with a text editor yourself. It's safe to say that the typical light user of software will not particularly fancy that, and I would be quite surprised if Steinberg went there. Personally, I am glad not to have to learn yet another GUI. -- David Kastrup _______________________________________________ lilypond-user mailing list lilypond-user@gnu.org https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user
