Subject: RE: bug#10451: 24.0.92; Bad cross reference in Info manual

From: "Drew Adams" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2012 11:19:43 -0800

> This is not the one I had in mind.

It's the one I pretty clearly cited:

>> Please note that the links I am talking about are in node 
>> `Help Xref', not in node `Expert Info'.

And in the same mail I quoted the same text from node `Help Xref' (twice now).

> If you are talking about this one,

Yes, I am talking about node `Help Xref'.

> then there's another problem: this manual also comes with the Texinfo
> package.  If that reference is changed to point to the Emacs manual,
> it will be broken for someone who installs the Texinfo manual and
> doesn't have the Emacs manual installed.

I addressed that in the original bug report:

>> I realize that the Info manual is not only for Emacs.  Still, many
>> readers will read it in Emacs, and this is borne out by some of the
>> manual text that says things like "If you are reading this in Emacs...".
>>  
>> It is likely that at least as many readers of the Info manual will have
>> the Emacs manual (and perhaps some other manuals that are provided with
>> Emacs) as will have the Texinfo manual installed.  And most Info users
>> will never be creating Info files and thus using Texinfo.

And no, it is not true that "this [Info] manual also comes with the Texinfo
package".  That might be true sometimes, but it is not true in general.

That's the point.  If the `Info' manual always came with the `Texinfo' manual
then I would not have filed this bug report - the links would just work.  Please
read what I wrote.

For an Emacs distribution (this is an _Emacs_ bug report), it is not always the
case that Emacs is distributed with Texinfo (and rightly so, IMHO).

If you can find a way to make the text be such that it works for Info with
Texinfo (and perhaps without Emacs) as well as working for Info with Emacs but
without Texinfo, fine.  Barring that, let's please fix this for Emacs users -
people who will read Info within Emacs, and who will not necessarily also have
the Texinfo manual installed.