Re: Texinfo macros and m4

[Werner LEMBERG]

>     Sounds reasonable.  However, if you do that, m4 *must* become part of
>     TeXLive!
>
> Gee.  I totally disagree!  It is not TL's business to provide system
> utilities.  The resulting conflicts are a true pain.  Even getting it to
> build on our all platforms, in a way that works in the builders'
> environments, would not be simple.  I'd remove texinfo.tex from TL
> before I added m4 ...

Well, up to now it is possible (in almost all cases) to process
texinfo documents with TeXLive out of the box to get a PDF, since
makeindex is part of TeXLive.  I think this ability shouldn't be lost.

>     >   \input texinfo   @c -*-texinfo-*- `m4needed'
>     Hmm.  Why not also using Emacs file variable syntax for
>     indicating m4?
>
> Simplicity/robustness of parsing?  I just want to grep for something
> to determine if it should be passed through m4.
>
> ^\\input address@hidden'
>
> People can do a lot of tricky stuff in Local Variable sections.
> Heck, just finding them is nontrivial.  Anything can be done, but
> ... the simpler the better.

Sorry to say, but what you suggests sounds a bit like the `Microsoft
way', namely to introduce non-standard features which are `simpler' or
`more user friendly'.

I don't mind having an indication for m4 usage in a comment line of
its own.  But combining it with an Emacs Local Variable line or
section sounds really bad.


    Werner