
About Rosegarden
================

This is the Rosegarden Editor and Sequencer suite, release 2.0 beta 3.

See the file COPYRIGHT for information about authors, copyrights,
redistribution and (the lack of) warranty.


Installation (binary distributions only)
========================================

If you keep external applications in a common area such as
/usr/local/bin, and if you keep support code for external applications
in the neighbouring lib directory /usr/local/lib, then you can
probably install by simply extracting the distribution archive from
within the /usr/local directory.

(The directory ./bin contains the Rosegarden Top Box executable; this
is the bit you run to use the program, so must be placed somewhere in
your PATH.  The directory ./lib/rosegarden contains supporting
executables for the Editor and Sequencer, and help files; these don't
need to be accessible to anything except the Top Box, so don't need to
be in your PATH.  The directory ./lib/music contains a few sample
files.)

When the executables and help files are in suitable places, edit the
first few lines of the resource file ./Rosegarden so as to list the
right locations, and then copy this resource file to a suitable place
(your home directory, /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults, somewhere like that
-- you'll know if Rosegarden can't find this file, because it will
refuse to run).

You should then be able to run the program "rosegarden".

If there's a CAVEATS file relevant to your system, read that also.


Installation (source distribution only)
=======================================

In order to build Rosegarden you will need a UNIX box with an ANSI C
or C++ compiler and the X11, Xt and Athena Widget Set headers and
libraries from X11R5 or R6.  It should be possible to build this on
most flavours of UNIX, though it was developed for SGI IRIX 5.x
systems (ideally with dmedia MIDI libraries, or with the Zilog Z8530
output controller connected to a MIDI dongle) and Linux PCs (ideally
with USS-Lite sound support).

See the various CAVEATS files for more information on likely problems
with specific systems; see the PORTING file for more information about
the chances of porting to different Unix flavours.


No Imakefile is included.  To build, modify the Makefile in this
directory in accordance with the location and requirements of this
build, and type "make".  (If you have to make further modifications
for system dependencies, you might consider putting them in
./common/include/SysDeps.h .)

To install, carry out the following:

   move or copy the three executables ./bin/rosegarden, ./bin/editor
   and ./bin/sequencer to a suitable binaries directory (renaming
   them if you like -- you don't _have_ to call the editor "editor",
   though if I were you I'd call it that but put it in a Rosegarden-
   specific directory);

   move or copy the two help files ./common/help/rosehelp.info and
   ./common/help/rosehelp.hnx into a directory you consider suitable for
   help files (they must be both in the same directory);

   if desired, place the sample Rosegarden editor files
   ./common/music/*.rose in a suitable directory of your choosing;

   if using USS-Lite, copy the default synth-patch file
   ./common/synth-patches/std.sb to a suitable directory;

   modify the resource file ./Rosegarden to indicate the locations of
   the executable files and help files, and copy it to an X defaults
   directory (/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults, your home directory, somewhere
   like that).  Rosegarden will refuse to run at all if this file has not
   been placed in one of the standard X defaults file locations.  You
   may also have to modify the colours and fonts defined in
   ./Rosegarden if the supplied ones are not available on your system.


Absent from this release
========================

Features which we know are not in this release and which we know we
would like to add include: better primary note-entry mechanisms in the
editor (maybe a piano-keyboard window and better keyboard accelerators
or modifiers); support for patch-set modification in the sequencer,
with instruments selectable in the editor; a working Undo in the
editor; printing straight to PostScript or other printer formats;
sequencer velocity information; a status line which tracks the
position of the mouse within the piece; MIDI editing from within the
piano-roll windows; and a few other things.


Support
=======

We're doing a certain amount of maintenance and development of
Rosegarden, but we're not supporting it as such.

However, if you have any complaints, bug reports, modifications, news
of successful or unsuccessful ports to other machines, constructive
criticism, or any comment at all that doesn't necessarily require
immediate action, please email it to me.  I don't particularly want to
hear about installation problems, but if you're really desperate, go
ahead and ask.

(Bug reports are, mostly, welcome: if you find a problem, don't just
assume that we "probably already know" about it.  We don't have enough
users for that to be very likely.)


Chris Cannam, cannam@zands.demon.co.uk
September 1996
