> Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 11:48:44 +0100 > From: Gavin Smith <[email protected]> > Cc: Aharon Robbins <[email protected]>, Texinfo <[email protected]> > > On 9 October 2015 at 08:06, Eli Zaretskii <[email protected]> wrote: > > Btw, my usual problem with such new features is that it's impossible > > (AFAIK) to use them in a manual in a backward-compatible way, > > i.e. while making sure older versions of makeinfo will process the > > manual without errors. That's because there's no way (again AFAIK) to > > write a condition that tests whether a given feature is available, nor > > even one that tests the version of makeinfo that is processing the > > file. > > > > This forces any real-world project to avoid using the newly introduced > > features completely, until enough years pass after their introduction, > > because telling the end users to install the latest Texinfo is not a > > practical option. > > > > So perhaps we should introduce a facility for such tests, and > > preferably in a way that is itself backward-compatible, e.g., testable > > with @ifset or some such. > > Would you or anybody else like to design and/or implement such a facility?
My Perl-mojo is too weak for that, sorry. I hope someone will pick up the gauntlet.
