

Toplevel README
***************

LilyPond is a music typesetter.  It produces beautiful sheet music
using a description file as input.  LilyPond is part of the GNU Project.

Versioning
==========

LilyPond uses a versioning scheme similar to the Linux kernel.  In a
version "x.y.z", an even second number 'y' denotes a stable version.
For development versions 'y' is odd.

Downloading
===========

The primary download site for sourcecode is
`http://lilypond.org/download/'.

   If you have a slow connection, then you are advised to use xdelta
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/xdelta/) for patching source archives;
Xdelta (`.xd') files are supplied on the FTP site.

Compilation
===========

For compiling and running LilyPond see the installation instructions.
These instructions can be found when you unpack lilypond, as
`lilypond-x.y.z/INSTALL.txt'. They are also available on the web at
`http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.1/Documentation/topdocs/out-www/INSTALL.html'.

   NOTE: If you downloaded a binary (`.rpm') or use the Cygwin
`setup.exe' program, then you don't have to compile LilyPond.

Documentation
=============

The documentation is available online at `http://www.lilypond.org/doc/'.

   You can also build it locally: follow the instructions under
`Building documentation' in the installation instructions.

Comments
========

Send your criticism, comments, bugreports, patches, etc. to the mailing
list, not to us personally.

   We have the following mailing lists:

   * info-lilypond@gnu.org
     (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-lilypond) is a
     low-volume list for information on LilyPond project.      This
     list is moderated; ask     David R. Linn <drl@gnu.org> or
     Han-Wen <hanwen@cs.uu.nl> to send announcements for this list.

   * lilypond-devel@gnu.org
     (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel)   for
     discussions about developing LilyPond, in particular the unstable
     series.

   * lilypond-user@gnu.org
     (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user)   for
     discussions about using LilyPond, in particular the stable series.

   * bug-lilypond@gnu.org
     (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-lilypond) for sending
     bugreports.

   * lilypond-cvs@gnu.org
     (http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-cvs)   for commit
     messages in CVS development. This is a high-volume moderated
     list.

   You can search the lists from the following page: searching
facilities (http://lilypond.org/search).

Caveats
=======

If you have installed a previous version, be sure to remove old font
files, e.g.,

     	rm `find /var/lib/texmf/fonts -name 'feta*'`

   a script to do this is left after compiling in
`buildscripts/out/clean-fonts'.

Bugs
====

Send bug reports to <bug-lilypond@gnu.org>.  For help and questions use
<lilypond-user@gnu.org>.

