Re: [PATCH v2 0/5] A small Texinfo refinement

[Sandra Loosemore <sandra.loosemore@siemens.com>]

On 3/10/23 01:50, Iain Sandoe wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
>> On 9 Mar 2023, at 23:35, Sandra Loosemore via Gcc-patches
>> <gcc-patches@gcc.gnu.org> wrote:
>> 
>> On 3/9/23 01:26, Richard Biener wrote:
>> 
>>> SLES 12 has texinfo 4.13a, SLES 15 has texinfo 6.5.  We still
>>> provide up-to-date GCC for SLES 12 but we can probably manage in
>>> some ways when the texinfo requirement gets bumped.
>> 
>> OK, this seems to be the oldest version anyone admits to actually
>> using.  I built the manual with Arsen's patches using 4.13a; the
>> build was successful, and I didn't see any obvious issues with the
>> @gol removal in either the PDF or HTML output, so I think we are OK
>> for backward compatibility.
> 
> FWIW macOS/Darwin (as delivered by Apple) is stuck on 4.8 (and,
> presumably, very unlikely to advance), but I would expect most macOS
> FOSS users have something newer installed, either self-built or via
> macposrts/homebrew etc. so the “admits to actually using” applies
> here too I think (personally, I am using 6.7 but not for any special
> reason other than it was current when I updated  my local toolset).
> So I think Darwin can also manage with a newer requirement.

Well, with 4.8 being too old to produce PDF output, that does kind of 
kill my idea of replacing the existing requirement for a specific 
Texinfo version with "the version that comes with your OS distribution 
is good enough".  :-(

AFAIK we have not knowingly changed any specific requirements beyond the 
stated 4.7 and 4.9 for PDF output, but it concerns me that nobody is 
likely to be using versions that old on a regular basis to make sure 
they continue to work and we haven't unknowingly introduced dependencies 
on newer Texinfo features.

Anyway, I think I will leave the existing requirement alone for now, and 
just add a note that newer versions produce better output.

-Sandra