EasyLilyPond: A Tribute To LilyPond And LilyPondTool

[Valentin Villenave]

Hello everybody, Hi Bertalan,

I just wanted to let you know about a recent project of mine: I called
it EasyLilyPond, as it is meant for people who are not familiar with
using computers and installing programs.

A few weeks ago, Bertalan made the suggestion to regroup in a single
bundle all that's needed to work with LilyPond and LilypondTool. He
suggested using NSIS to put it all together; I noticed it and then
stopped thinking about it.

About a month ago, since my laptop went down again and I found myself
forced to use an old 600 MHz Windows box, I started using msysGit and,
just out of curiosity, downloaded the whole GUB sources. I discovered
that the current LilyPond MinGW installer itself was written using
NSIS; this made me realize that it would be great to take it as a base
for an extended new LilyPond installation, that would not only install
LilyPond but jEdit and LilyPondTool as well.

After having spent a few weeks working on it, I feel like I have a
made a first step. It is still very buggy, but here are a few ideas I
had:

- Installs LilyPond using the authentic GUB procedure (slightly
updated); everything is preserved, the PATH integration, the "use
bundled python" option etc.

- Installs jEdit editor, absolutely unmodified, just like in a
standard installation. LilyPondTool can also be installed, with a few
additional configuration files and examples. The user can choose to
use the bundled (1.6) Java Environment; if he chooses not to, the
setup checks for a decent JRE available, and if there isn't, another
choice is proposed: use the bundled JRE anyway, or download and
install Java "for real".

- Installs Sumatra PDF reader, that is both lightweight and free as in
freedom. LilyPondTool is preconfigured to use it.

- Installs the EasyLauncher: a small application that is meant to give
newbies an initial familiar feeling: a smooth transparent splash
screen, a nice startup sound of piano music (the Free Software Song as
recorded by Markus Haist, used with his permission). The Launcher
provides an "easy" and quick way to launch LilyPondTool, open an
examples folder, open the online Learning Manual, LSR, etc.

- Installs (optionally) some skins: I have completely reskinned the
jEdit interface, with transparent/blur effects, new splash screen and
icons, customized colors and backgrounds to make it look a bit like
the EasyLauncher. Those who do not like the green color, or my "happy
little note" drawing, probably do not want to select this option :)

- the whole thing (setup+Launcher) is fully localized (English/French
only for now, but it's easy to add more languages). Besides, if a
French user launches the application for the first time, he will see a
translated version of the "Congratulations etc." ly file (with French
explanations, \include "italiano.ly" and so on).

- there are currently three predefined installation types: "Full",
"Standard", and "LilyPond Only".

- Finally, there's an option called "Offshore installation" that
allows users to install EasyLilyPond on a USB drive, a bit like the
PortableApps you may know. Unfortunately I'm having a pretty hard time
trying to implement it, so hopefully this will be ready for a future
version...

That's about all.
It is still a pre-pre-pre-alpha-beta-whatever version, plus it's the
first time I code anything (besides LilyPond scores, of course). It
was more about demonstrating some concepts than anything else.

If you're interested in having a look at it, please visit the page on
http://valentin.villenave.info/spip.php?article44
All suggestions are welcome -- and that includes the design ;-)

Thank you very much, and a merry Christmas to all LilyPonders!

Regards,
Valentin