John Chambers wrote - >But if the software doesn't agree on what pieces >of the notation mean, it can sorta interfere with getting >the music across.
I've been thinking along the same lines myself for quite a while. >And abc has a quandary that's common in all other kinds of >computer communications: You find something that can't be >expressed using the standard language. What do you do? Discuss it with as many interested people as you can. Listen to their ideas and objections. Modify your proposal accordingly. Arrive at a consensus and only then implement your ideas. Isn't that what this list is for? >Start with a rule "Any >notation you don't understand should be ignored (perhaps >with a warning but not a fatal error message)". Not always possible when different sets of non-standard notation impinge on each other such as the use of ! and the various incompatible versions of the V: command. >When a small crowd finds something >that seems to solve the problem, they present what they've >done to the general population. And a lot of people like it so it gets used and becomes part of the system. Unfortunately it screws things up for other people who may cry "Wouldn't it have been better if ...." But it's too late. The damage is done. >Eventually most of the new ideas get incorporated into the standard language Not any more they don't. The standard hasn't been updated for several years and there is no mechanism to do so. >Alternatively, they don't get incorporated, and you get a >collection of dialects or a family of very similar but >incompatible languages. Yes, that's what's happening. Bryan Creer To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
