On 3/10/23 10:51, Sandra Loosemore wrote:
On 3/10/23 01:50, Iain Sandoe wrote:
Hi all,
On 9 Mar 2023, at 23:35, Sandra Loosemore via Gcc-patches
<gcc-patches@gcc.gnu.org> wrote:
On 3/9/23 01:26, Richard Biener wrote:
SLES 12 has texinfo 4.13a, SLES 15 has texinfo 6.5. We still
provide up-to-date GCC for SLES 12 but we can probably manage in
some ways when the texinfo requirement gets bumped.
OK, this seems to be the oldest version anyone admits to actually
using. I built the manual with Arsen's patches using 4.13a; the
build was successful, and I didn't see any obvious issues with the
@gol removal in either the PDF or HTML output, so I think we are OK
for backward compatibility.
FWIW macOS/Darwin (as delivered by Apple) is stuck on 4.8 (and,
presumably, very unlikely to advance), but I would expect most macOS
FOSS users have something newer installed, either self-built or via
macposrts/homebrew etc. so the “admits to actually using” applies
here too I think (personally, I am using 6.7 but not for any special
reason other than it was current when I updated my local toolset).
So I think Darwin can also manage with a newer requirement.
Well, with 4.8 being too old to produce PDF output, that does kind of
kill my idea of replacing the existing requirement for a specific
Texinfo version with "the version that comes with your OS distribution
is good enough". :-(
AFAIK we have not knowingly changed any specific requirements beyond the
stated 4.7 and 4.9 for PDF output, but it concerns me that nobody is
likely to be using versions that old on a regular basis to make sure
they continue to work and we haven't unknowingly introduced dependencies
on newer Texinfo features.
Anyway, I think I will leave the existing requirement alone for now, and
just add a note that newer versions produce better output.
Oh, I need to take that back -- looking now, it's 4.8 for PDF output,
not 4.9 like I was thinking before I had enough caffeine in my
bloodstream. I'll leave the version check in place but add some text
suggesting a more recent version, anyway.
-Sandra
