On Sun, Sep 13, 2026 at 09:49:32PM +0300, Eli Zaretskii wrote: > > Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2026 20:02:37 +0200 > > From: Patrice Dumas <[email protected]> > > > > Hello, > > > > Coming back again on the issue of encoding used for Info files. After > > the change in the plaintext and Info converters, encoding to any output > > encoding does not add much complexity anymore. However, I still think > > that it would be better if the Info files were UTF-8 encoded > > irrespective of the input Texinfo file encoding and if, in the long > > term, there were mostly UTF-8 encoded Info files. > > > > My proposal is to use UTF-8 as encoding independentely of Texinfo input > > file encoding, with the possibility to set the output encoding with > > OUTPUT_ENCODING_NAME. > > > > What do you think? > > I think this is an unusual thing to do,
This is not unusual. We do the same for LaTeX, and for EPUB OUTPUT_ENCODING_NAME is even ignored (though this is mandated by the specification, not really our choice). > and needs a serious justification. Do we have one? This was already discussed in the previous thread, to me there are at least three reasons * it is easier for Info reader, in particular for cross-references, which are problematic when the different manuals do not have the same encoding. Currently this is an issue with the stand-alone Info reader * if UTF-8 becomes the only encoding (or almost), it could simplify readers, install-info and any software that deals with the Info format * there is no reason why a user would want a specific encoding, as interaction with Info is through software, so using one that is practical and can render any character is a good thing > Forcing users to use > OUTPUT_ENCODING_NAME is a nuisance. Again, I fail to see a use case where a user would want a specific encoding. The Info format cannot be manually edited anyway without messing up the tag tables, and there are escaping with control characters that also make manual editing very hazardous. -- Pat
