GNU bug report logs - #10451
24.0.92; Bad cross reference in Info manual

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Message #8 received at 10451 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Cc: 10451 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10451: 24.0.92; Bad cross reference in Info manual
Date: Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:56:06 -0500

> From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
> Date: Sat, 7 Jan 2012 22:40:25 -0800
> 
> There are a few cross references such as this in the `Info' manual: "see
> Overview of Texinfo(texinfo)".  The Texinfo manual is not included with
> Emacs.  These links are thus broken.

We also have links to other manuals provided by other projects: Make,
glibc, and Aspell, for example.  Manuals of other GNU projects do the
same; e.g. the Texinfo manuals include references to Emacs.  There's
nothing we can do about this; avoiding such links would make the
manual less useful.

A reader does not _have_ to follow every hyperlink she sees, only
those she is really interested in.  A reader who really is interested
in the details of how Info files are generated, will need to install
the Texinfo package which brings the manual with it.

(You can have it too, a Windows port is available.  Drop me a note if
you want a URL.)

> While it is not absolutely necessary that the links actually work, it
> would be far better if the manual used only links that work.  In this
> case, a different manual could be used - one that is included with
> Emacs.

Are you suggesting to have some version of Texinfo manual as part of
the Emacs package?  That sounds like a strange proposal: it would lead
to massive duplication of effort or to excessive interdependencies
between largely independent projects.  Cf. the (still on-going)
discussion about "GnuTLS and W32".

What could be useful is to enhance info.el to give some indication
that a given hyperlink points to a manual that is not available.  If
this is what your report is about, or if it could be satisfied by such
a change, then I agree; otherwise I think we should close this report
with no further action.

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