\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
@setfilename README.info
@settitle This is the toplevel README to LilyPond
@node Top, , , 
@top

@chapter This is the toplevel README to LilyPond


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

@section 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.  For using straightforward score
production, please use the latest stable version.  Development versions
may not produce good or nice scores.

@section Requirements

For the compilation and running of LilyPond you need some additional
packages.  Please refer to the installation instructions.

NOTE: If you downloaded a binary (.rpm or a W95/NT .zip file),
you don't have to compile LilyPond.

@section Installation

For your convenience, a formatted copy of the INSTALL instructions are
in the toplevel directory, as INSTALL.txt

@section Documentation

The real documentation is the directory Documentation/

If you want to read the documentation online, these are options:
@itemize @bullet
@item  use @file{.html}. Refer to INSTALL.txt for info on how to make the
.html documentation.
@item  use @file{.html}. Point your browser to
@uref{http://www.cs.uu.nl/~hanwen/lilypond/index.html}.
@item use @file{.dvi},  for the tutorial and reference manual. Do

@example 
  make -C Documentation/tex/ dvi 
@end example 

  
@item  use ASCII. Do
using @example 
	make -C Documentation/
@end example 

@end itemize


@section Comments

LilyPond is a long way from finished and polished.  We do appreciate
criticism, comments, bugreports, patches, etc.
@example 

	   Please send your e-mail to one of the MAILING LISTS
 
@end example 

and @emph{not} to us personally.  See @file{Documentation/mail.texi} for
more info.

@section Windows 32

If you have received this file as part of a DOS/Window32 distribution
(@file{LilyPond-*.zip}), it is advisable to also download the
source package, since it might contain more documentation
@uref{ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/pub/GNU/LilyPond/}

If you decide to build LilyPond from source, please read the INSTALL.txt
document first, especially the Windows NT/95 section.

@section Caveats

If you have installed a previous version, be sure to remove old font
files, eg.,
@example 
rm `find /var/lib/texmf/fonts -name 'feta*'` 
@end example 

a script to do this for you is in @file{buildscripts/clean-fonts.sh}

@section Bugs

Send bug reports to @email{bug-gnu-music@@gnu.org}.  For help and
questions use @email{help-gnu-music@@gnu.org} and
@email{gnu-music-discuss@@gnu.org}.  Please consult the FAQ and
installation instructions before mailing your problems.

@section CDROM distributions

If you have received LilyPond on a cdrom, chances are that development
has moved some patchlevels up.  Please check the latest version of
LilyPond before reporting bugs.


@bye
