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Topic: NWC from Linux ???? (Read 7312 times) previous topic - next topic

NWC from Linux ????

Does anyone have experience on running NWC from Linux,
using some window emulator? I tried WINE, but did not
work...

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #1 –
I would love to see an NWC port directly to Linux, so we can kick Microsoft out of the picture entirely.

Any chance of that in the future?

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #2 –
Are you an optimist?

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #3 –
Yes!! I have Linux on my machine, and am gradually learning it (and what's more... learning to really like it). There's a great big vacuum where it comes to music software, though. The best that exists is that abysmal MusicTeX. If you came up with an OSS or GPL Linux version of NoteWorthy Composer, you would have the de facto cross-platform standard for music composition/scoring software. Think of it! You could be to music software what Linus Torvaald (sp?) is to Linux ;-)

Fred

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #4 –
Eric,

You need more programmers! Why not go the Linux/NetScape way, and release the source? 8-O (I know, scary thought, isn't it? How about releasing it to some "trusted and enthusiastic NWC users who can also program"? ;-)
That way, we get all those enhancements we clamour for, you'd get cross-platform coverage, and the world would get NWC. we'd all be in nirvana, wouldn't we?

Facetiously,
Andrew

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #5 –
I suggested a Linux port to Eric a while back (when I first came on board with NoteWorthy). At that time, I didn't know what kind of support for Linux was out there in the NWC community. But, hey, now that I know I'm not alone...

Andrew, your suggestion, even if it was tongue-in-cheek, was a great one. The down side, of course, is that if Eric gave the source to the Open Source community, he would lose the shareware revenue he gets now, I think. (Do folks in the Open Source community get 'contributions' that might equal what NWC is generating in shareware revenue?)

The up side of Andrew's suggestion is that this piece of software, in the hands of a whole crew of programmers, would get even better than it is now--and that's pretty good.

Let's go one step better and get a crew to work on a GPL or OpenSource music scanning program, Linux, Windows, or otherwise.

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #6 –
I don't think OSS/GPL and making a living are mutually exclusive. There will be many people (myself included) who would be happy to buy the compiled binaries in a nice, easy-to-use, point-and-click install package.

The true DIYers, of course, never buy anything anyway. They just download the shareware version and hack into the protection "just to prove it can be done." Take away the game of cracking the code, and even they (some of them anyway) will grudgingly fork out the pittance that Eric's asking for this lovely program.

A good example of this is RedHat, who seem to be doing just fine even though they give away their version of the Linux operating system.

The biggest problem with OSS and multiple contributors appears to be forking of the product. That's where strong leadership and a central "clearinghouse" is vital. NoteWorthy Artware has the infrastructure and the highly respected "director of development" who would have the last word on any new developments. Plus of course he retains the right to sell it. GPL does _not_ mean that you can't sell it; it only says that _if_ you give it away, you have to let the recipient pass it on.

Fred

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #7 –
When you say it didn't work under Wine, what was the problem? Maybe it's font related.

Yes to Linux support from me.

-Nigel

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #8 –
I have just installed the latest version of Wine - 990314. And it's great. If only I could work out how to access noteworthy's true type fonts from Linux I have this feeling I'd be up and running with NWC 1.55 on Linux.

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #9 –
>I have just installed the latest version of Wine - 990314.
>And it's great. If only I could work out how to
>access noteworthy's true type fonts from Linux
>I have this feeling I'd be up and running with
>NWC 1.55 on Linux.

I have tried NWC 1.55a with wine-990328 and so far it will not work, nor will it with the latest wine-990426. Problem is, no TrueType support in Wine.

Precisely, XFree86 can display True Type fonts (via a TT font server), but Wine does not query glyph dimensions -- or maybe it simply can't. Anyway, it does not implement Windows' GetcharABCWidths call.

I have inquired on the Wine HQ to see if someone is working on TT support in Wine, and have got no reply so far but, hey, it was only 3 hours ago. :)

Could be interesting to add TT support to Wine for "our" NWC to work in it!

All the best,
Albert.

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #10 –
You got the support of me behind ya..
When I got Linux going again, if a tech support guy here could send me a list of all the DLLs and other libraries that NoteWorthy uses, (and the fonts), I'll see what I can do....Wine IS sort of finicky.

And also, if you guys went open-source, this site would get a LOT more hits, and as soon as xlib is ported, the unofficial OS/2 version would appear shortly.

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #11 –
i vote for open source too :) or if not open source, at least a linux version! ;)

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #12 –
Hear hear. I'd love to see an open source version, or at
least some degree of availability for Linux. I'd be happy
to help out with the process of taking NWC open source,
even if I probably don't have the coding skills for it.

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #13 –
Here's another idead for a form of Linux (really, cross-platform) support.

Linux now has an excellent system under development called Lilypond (see http://www.lilypond.org)) that provides a very powerful text-based language for typesetting music, using TeX on the backend to generate Postscript, DVI, etc. Lilypond is already very advanced, with notational capabilities beyond what NWC currently offers, and it can be arbitrarily extended by the user.

However, it does not come with a graphical editor. There is at least one third-party tool (called Denemo) under development, but it's pretty primitive thus far.

That fact is, NWC is a very well designed and implemented editor, and it's likely to be a long time (if ever) before someone comes up with anything of comparable quality.

So, why not have the best of both worlds? Why go through all the pain of porting NWC to Linux (and it *would* be a royal pain)? How about a conversion utility that could convert a .nwc file into an .ly (Lilypond) source file, and vice-versa? I dual-boot between Windows and Linux already, as many people do (I do it *specifically* to use NWC, since I don't need Windows for anthing else). This allows us to continue using (and supporting) a great editor, but also allows us to go beyond its limitations and gain the advantage of some other very powerful tools.

If Eric thinks this is a good idea, he doesn't have to open up any of his source code at all -- just the .nwc file format specification.

Opinions?

-- Dave

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #14 –
I realize this reply is very late, but I only just recently came across this forum. I agree that lilypond is an excellent program for Linux, and I think that opening the .nwc format would be a great idea, as I could really use a converter.

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #16 –
I am all for porting NWC to Linux. :) But I have one other problem... I haven't gotten midi to work under Linux yet. I have an Ensoniq AudioPCI... it uses wavesets for MIDI. How do I tell Linux where to find them? If anyone can help, email me, please.

I personally don't care if NWC goes open-source; it's so wonderful already. But a Linux port... *drool*

Re: NWC from Linux ????

Reply #17 –
AH! I knew that I wasn't the only musician going open source. Whether NWC actually goes open source or not I believe that porting it to linux would be a huge financial benefit! Do it before the other large companies decide that they have to. By then you have already set a standard in the open source community. Now when it comes down to it most open source thinkers, yes the true die hards, will pay donations. Thats because that we understand that programming is work and takes time. And in order to have a more stable and clean os we need to support those who will deliver it to us. As for midi working in linux, that depends on the distribution. Xandros is nearly impossible. I have a Sound Blaster Pro Audigy 2. In most distributions the soundcards that use soundfonts make it really easy. Install the AWESFX tools, load a soundfont, choose the output in the sound setup, choose that same output in NWC, and viola! Midi. All the others without soundfonts I honestly don't know. But if you type in mandrake midi into google there is a walkthrough that will tell you how to do it.