Re: lilybuntu 2

[Colin Campbell]

On Thu, 2010-12-16 at 13:48 +0000, Graham Percival wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 02:58:12PM +0000, Graham Percival wrote:
> > On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 05:11:46AM -0600, Jonathan Kulp wrote:
> > > If you want to test it, please feel free. Note that the lily-git.tcl
> > > script is already in the user's home directory, ready to grab the
> > > source code.
> > 
> > Actually, could people wait a few days?  I'd like to take this
> > opportunity to have a thorough examination of our installation
> > stuff.  I'd like to have one person try it and make notes about
> > what worked and what didn't, then I'll tweak the docs, then a new
> > person will try it, then I'll adjust the docs again, etc.
> 
> James has tried it and sent me comments, and I've made my first
> revision of the process.  Unfortunately, the results aren't online
> yet, but let's not panic.
> 
> Would any doc-savvy contributor like to try lilybuntu 2 and the
> new version of the instructions?
> 
> 1. Please rebuild the docs from current git master (or at least,
> build the Contributor's Guide).
> 
> 2. Start reading at 1.1 Help us.  Your "motivation" is that you
> want to do "advanced tasks".  (if you are looking at a "help us"
> page which does not list "advanced tasks", then you're looking at
> old docs)
> 
> 3. start following the instructions, and let me know where you end
> up.  The goal is to have a streamlined set of instructions,
> assuming a reasonably competent computer user but with no specific
> knowledge of lilypond development (or development at all!).
> 

I gave it a look at the office, where I run VBox with an Ubuntu 10.10 VM
on WinXP.
After d'l the .iso, the following took a bit less than an hour:

Build a VM: 1GB, 128Mb display memory, everything else defaulted.
Assign .iso to VM CD
Boot VM
Got an ISOLINUX console, and typed Install
Take defaults (it even found the correct time zone!)
Installed VBox Guest Additions as instructed: pleasant surprise, as I
was used to doing it from a root shell.
Boot into new VM
Use FF to go to LP website, follow path from Community - Help Us -
Advanced Tasks to Use Lilybuntu
Clicked on link to lily-git.tcl source, watched it open as a text file,
thought "Silly bunt!", opened Nautilus and found the script already in
my home.
Double-clicked, said "run in terminal", clicked "get source" and all is
well.
Being the possessor of well-worn moccasins, I went to the Requirements
section of 3.3 and was delighted to find I only had to install
xfonts-cronyx-100dpi and -75dpi, with all other requirements for
compiling and building documentation already installed! Very well done,
indeed!
Riding a wave of optimism, fired up a terminal and ran
the .\autogen.sh ./configure make sudo make install routine with no
obvious errors.
Went to the website and copied the code from LM 2.3.3 Lyrics to Multiple
Staves and put it into a .ly on my desktop, just as a test.
Ran lilypond from a terminal and reproduced the image in the LM.
All told, a very painless experience.

All that said, however, I think that both lily-git and lilybuntu are
rather awkwardly shoehorned into the CG. It might be worth reorganizing
a bit:
1. * Help us::
* Overview of work flow:
move lilybuntu, to ensure the flow to
* Mentors::

2. (new) Setting up the environment
* Lilybuntu
* Requirements (moved from 3.3)

3. Working with source code (was section 2)
* left as is, although why do we use git on Windows if we can't build?
If we're pointing Windows and MacOS users to lilybuntu, let's just drop
(2).5 entirely
Move section 3.4 Getting the source code in here.

4. Compiling
* Combine 3.2 Overview of compiling with 3.1 dropping the first bit
about lilybuntu, and adding a note that the rest of the section assumes
the use of lily-git
* Rest of the section as is

This is not overly thought out, just a reaction to following the path
Graham set out, and trying to be as naive as possible.  I think the
existing setup tries to combine a focus on the tools (lilybuntu and
lily-git) with laying out the process (set up the environment, get the
source, compile, specialize), to the detriment of both.

Returning to Graham's question, and setting aside the above rant, I
think lilybuntu2 is excellently done, and the instructions in the CG
specific to getting lilybuntu up and running are fine

The changes I'm suggesting are pretty much a repackaging, not a total
rewrite, but to me, they seem to be a more logical view of the path from
how do I help, how do I set up m,y machine, where's the source, how do I
build it, to the more detailed how can I help.

cheers,

Colin

-- 
Excellent day for putting Slinkies on an escalator. 
Dan Galvin, TFTD List 20070228--