sponsorship request: minimum-measure-left-padding

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hello, all --

Now that I'm well into engraving several big piano pieces in Lilypond  
2.11.23, it has become even more clear than ever that:
    (1) the initial padding in measures is unacceptably small (and,  
in some cases, zero); and
    (2) the various known workarounds are overly time-consuming and  
code-cluttering.

For example, in the ragtime solo piano piece I'm currently engraving,  
close to 75% of the measures require some form of initial-padding  
tweaking -- and (grrr!) it's a different (amount of) tweak for almost  
every measure!  =(

Therefore, I would like a quote on what it would cost to include a  
user-adjustable property to set the minimum space which must appear  
in every measure between the last prefatory item (i.e., bar line, key  
signature, time signature, clef; is that it?) and the first "musical"  
element (i.e., notehead, accidental, arpeggio or other attachment,  
etc.).

Thanks!
Kieren.