Re: When should we put @key inside @kbd?

[Gavin Smith]

On Sun, Jan 02, 2022 at 03:38:39PM -0700, Karl Berry wrote:
>     @kbd{@key{TAB}}
> 
> Indeed. A feature specifically requested, of course. Implemented by rms
> in 1989. (Or maybe I sent the patch and rms installed it, no idea any more.)
> Ah, for the days of apple-gunkies ...
> 
> Mon Aug 28 00:21:33 1989  Richard Stallman  (rms at apple-gunkies.ai.mit.edu)
> [...]
>       * texinfo.tex (\kbd): If arg consists of one \key command, be a no op.
> 
>     I didn't find any discussion of
>     @key inside @kbd in particular.
> 
> There is a thread in bug-texinfo in March 2018, and some mention in
> earlier years. (Just grepping for kbd.*key and key.*kbd in the
> *texinfo/* mailing list archives; didn't try to read all the msgs.)
> Probably yet more from before the archives begin. 

Obviously I did made some attempt to find what the rationale/past
thinking was.  The March 2018 discussion was the one I linked to.
I missed the ChangeLog entry from 1989 but there is no explanation
there anyway.  Overall I feel I did more research on this than could
be reasonably expected.

> Anyway, we could spend more time looking up past history, but it sounds
> like all the decisions have been made, so why bother ... certainly not
> anything I want to spend more time exhuming. --happy hacking, karl.

It needs relevant arguments rather than a general statement that the issue
has been discussed or decided in the past.