2. For all current features of the Texinfo language, the docbook output generated by makeinfo should be valid docbook. I think we all agree on this as a principle.
Agreed. If we accept this, then for makeinfo --docbook, any text following @part and preceding the first @chapter should be wrapped in <partintro> tags, and Patrice should fix this. I am fine for makeinfo to issue a warning about such text if not in docbook mode. Karl, do you approve this docbook-specific fix? I guess I'm ok with both parts of this (the <partintro> and the non-docbook warning), but ... wrapping <partintro> tags in @docbook works .. that actually seems cleaner to me. Thanks, and sorry to be such a curmudgeon about it all. karl