[tex-live] musixtex in texlive-2010

[Bob Tennent]

 >|> The version of this at CTAN is T-114.  The version in texlive-2010
 >|is T-103,
 >|> which is about 9 years out of date.
 >|
 >|(fwiw, the miktex version is dated may 2003.)
 >|
 >|i maintain it, but _i_ find the ctan directory macros/musixtex/taupin
 >|confusing (and i've used the software in the distant past).
 >|
 >|so generating a new version of musixtex for tex live is going to be
 >|difficult, at the least.

There are texlive packages available for Fedora systems that are up to
date and work well:

texlive-musixlyr
texlive-musixps
texlive-musixtex
texlive-musixflx
etc.

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/TeXLive#Documentation

 >|reading the music/tex mailing list, i have the impression that no-one
 >|nowadays uses musixtex other than through one of the front ends.  i've
 >|never done that, and have no incentive any longer to try (i don't
 >|arrange music any more).  if i'm right, and musixtex _needs_ a front
 >|end, that adds masses more complications ... particularly since, aiui,
 >|at least one such is written in fortran.

I use musixtex "raw".  I'm sure many others do and even if they use
a front-end, musixtex et al have to be there.

 >|furthermore, i've just noticed (for the first time!) that there's a
 >|licence statement in there.  the statement is pretty confused, but it
 >|does say that the software is (in ctan catalogue terms) licence nosell.
 >|in that case, it shouldn't be in tex live in the first place.

That dates from 2001. I recall that it was at some point re-licensed to
be GPL. That is the license in the Fedora package.

 >|so what do we do?
 >|
 >|if karl's willing to keep musixtex, despite its licence, then
 >|someone should provide a coherent set of packages. ctan doesn't
 >|hold duplicate copies of stuff, and the directory on the wima is
 >|has multiple copies of things. i've omitted things according to my
 >|reading of what's going on, but istm that some things have changed
 >|name, and i fear i may have duplicated some things, and omitted
 >|others.
 >|
 >|so a review is needed of what's on ctan, and preferably a prototype
 >|of what a ctan package should look like.
 >|
 >|if things are going to progress someone needs to do some work. but we
 >|need to think about that licence.

I've posted a similar plea to the icking-music-archive.org-tex-music
list but it doesn't seem to be functioning.

Bob T.