Re: engraving comparisons and other "promotional" materials

[Joseph Rushton Wakeling]

On 06/12/13 17:59, Ryan McClure wrote:
> While I think this is a good idea, I have a few reasons to hesitate. We
> don't want to just promote LilyPond to expert users; wouldn't we want any
> user to switch over? Any professional can make anything look good. An expert
> Micro$oft Paint user could probably reproduce the Mona Lisa if given enough
> time.

Yes, "if given enough time".  The point of the comparison is to show the 
productivity of users of the software, measured in terms of the quantity of 
quality output they can produce in a fixed space of time.  The reason to go to 
expert users is so that you don't bias the outcome from unfamiliarity or 
ignorance of the software.

> What LilyPond does better than Finale/Sibelius is more excellent default
> engraving. How many times have people used Finale and gotten that dreaded
> last-bar-on-its-own-page problem? I believe the best test would be using
> ONLY defaults for Finale, Sibelius, and LilyPond to show what the programs
> can do--not what experienced users can do.

I disagree, because the faults of default Finale output are not serious faults 
if they're quick and easy to fix.