Re: rethinking @def*

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Gavin Smith <gavinsmith0123@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2022 19:40:32 +0100
> Cc: pertusus@free.fr, bug-texinfo@gnu.org
> 
> > Yes, and I consider this as bad.  As I mentioned in my previous
> > e-mail, such a change would ruin any fine-tuning of the formatting – a
> > formatting that stayed unmodified for a very long time.
> 
> We could see what the change would do to various documents once it is
> implemented.

How would you see that?  Most documents won't see this version before
it is released, usually years after it's released, because
introduction of new package versions into distros is slow.  Most
complaints won't show up until many noons after Texinfo with these
changes hits the streets.

> It's possible that the change wouldn't cause a problem.  If it would
> break documents or make documents worse then it could be rethought
> or abandoned.

IME, that is usually very hard to do, because there will be those who
find the new behavior much better, and will want to keep it.

Introduction of new behavior in a way that doesn't break old behavior
is free from all those disadvantages.