Re: Changes to Texinfo DTD

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 21:35:56 -0600 (CST)
> From: Luc Teirlinck <address@hidden>
> 
>    Do we know what information from the glibc manual is required reading
>    for the reader of the ELisp manual?
> 
> None.  Some readers _might_ need to know more about locales (hence the
> reference), but the _reason_ they would need that knowledge would
> definitely not be to understand the Elisp manual.

In that case, we should consider removing the xref or maybe
rewording it so that its importance is minimized.

> Note that this is one more reason why, if a reference refers to another
> manual, the reader needs to know that and needs to know which manual.

I don't need to note this, since I agreed with you in the first place:
that's why I suggested to change the wording to make this point clear.

> But (elisp)Locales says as the very last sentence of the note and of
> the chapter:
> 
> *Note Locales: (libc)Locales, for more information about locales and
> locale items.
> 
> It says: "for more information", it does not say: "If you want to
> understand anything of what you just read".

"@xref{Something}, for more information" is a standard wording, we
use it for many references that are quite important.

>    Portability has nothing to do with this.
> 
> Portability has a lot to do with this.  This is the Elisp manual, not
> the Emacs manual.  The author may want his code to not just work, as
> efficiently as possible, for his computer and for his locale, but for
> other people's as well.

In that case, we should provide information (or a pointer to a source
of such information) that describes the locale issue in a manner that
is independent of any particular implementation.  The glibc manual is
an unlikely place to find such a description, as the glibc
implementation of locale-specific stuff differs in many aspects from
other implementations.

>    The question is, again, what exactly we want the user to pick up in
>    the glibc manual.
> 
> Whichever information the reader happens to need.  The reference means:
> If you need to know something we did not tell you above, here is a
> reasonable place to search for that information.

See above: when we say "see elsewhere for more info", we normally
invite the user to actually go there.