Re: Org mode and Emacs (was: Convert README.org to plain text README while installing package)

[Tim Cross]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Ihor Radchenko <yantar92@gmail.com>
>> Cc: Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com>,  rms@gnu.org,
>>   monnier@iro.umontreal.ca,  acm@muc.de,  emacs-devel@gnu.org
>> Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2022 14:20:37 +0800
>> 
>> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
>> 
>> >> I"m also not convinced that org mode would be the right solution for
>> >> Emacs documentation.
>> >
>> > Then why Org's own manual is written in Org instead of Texinfo?
>> 
>> I do not know if Org mode would be a good solution for Emacs
>> documentation. However, compared to texinfo, our manual is lacking index
>> entries in all the exported versions but texinfo.
>
> Lack of an index makes for a less useful manual, IME.
>
> Anyway, is the lack of the index the _only_ missing feature from what
> the Org markup provides as compared to Texinfo?  Tim's message sounded
> like there are many more omissions.

My statement is simply waht it says. I am not convinced org mode would
be the right solution for Emacs documentation. This is for many reasons,
some relating to org, some relating to the fact I'm not convinced there
is a need to replace texinfo, especially given that in some areas, I
think texinfo is more feature rich and consistent and some relating to the 
feeling I have
that the result is hard to justify given the amount of work it would
require. At the end of the day, proposing org mode as a replacement for
texinfo feels too much like a solution looking for a problem and one
that doesn't appear to have clear enough advantages to justify the work
needed to make such a transition, especially given work being done in
the texinfo area to improve its support for new formats, like epub. 

Org mode is a fantastic tool and I use it every day. There are ways org
mode could be used to augment the Emacs environment, but I don't think
it is an all or nothing situation. I'm also not convinced that embedding
org into Emacs more and more is necessarily a good thing. Tighter
coupling comes with both pros and cons.