Re: Problem with remove bar number/ why I'm not upgrading to the new stable version

[David Kastrup]

Werner LEMBERG <address@hidden> writes:

>>> Maybe examples can be extended and/or reduced to make them easier
>>> to comprehend.
>>
>> It's not the examples in the documentation, or at least, I
>> understand all of the documentation except for the introduction to
>> scheme, which is fine for me, since I don't use scheme.
>
> Well, as a matter of fact, LilyPond uses Scheme to extend its
> functionality.  This won't change.

> Ignoring this part is the same as refusing to learn, say, Japanese
> Kanji characters if you already know the Hiragana and Katakana
> syllable scripts.  Without Kanji you are able to read children's books
> and many Manga cartoons, but you won't be able to read normal Japanese
> newspapers or books.  If you are satisfied with children literature
> then everything's fine.  Otherwise, you have to stretch your
> knowledge.

I don't think this is an accurate comparison.  LilyPond is supposed to
be useful without having to extend it.

> In other words, an a-priori refusal of Scheme isn't helpful if you
> want to explore the capabilities of LilyPond.

If you want to _extend_ them.  LilyPond is nowhere near the state where
every imaginable music typesetting task is available as a turnkey
solution.  But that does not mean having to use Scheme is an ideal or a
goal for LilyPond.

Many houseowners get along without doing masonry themselves.

> So I ask again: What exactly are the difficulties you have
> encountered?  What concepts are badly explained, what examples are
> `greek' to you, and why?  Simply skipping the Scheme code and asking
> for a non-Scheme solution isn't helpful either.

Our Scheme introductions are not really much more than a cursory
introduction.  Explaining the concepts of Scheme exhaustively would be
beyond the LilyPond manuals.

Its purpose is mostly getting people's feet wet enough that they don't
see the point in putting their socks back on.

It would seem that we need to do a bit more splashing before this works
reliably.

-- 
David Kastrup