Re: Using texinfo for works that are not software-related

[Oleander]

As far as I know latex3 does not support exporting to html, epub,
ascii and I need those formats. I should have explained it better but
I don't need all the formatting options latex offers since I mostly
write prose with some code/quote blocks.

By "good things" I meant semantic elements, indexes, cross references.

I've explored other markup languages but I've always been on the fence
about those and I keep switching.

Markdown does not support indexes so I tend to exclude it for long
documentation.

Org Mode is great but it lacks semantic elements besides blocks.

Asciidoc: good markup syntax and support semantic elements but I read
the tooling leaves something to be desired.

Restructured text: great tooling but I don't like the syntax of some
elements.

As regards at least sys admin documentation which is not only
software-related (bureaucratic stuff) and general prose, would you still recommend texinfo?

-------- Original Message --------
On Aug 30, 2023, 04:52, Christopher Dimech < dimech@gmx.com> wrote:
> Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 9:01 AM
> From: "Oleander" <7059548@protonmail.com>
> To: help-texinfo@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: Using texinfo for works that are not software-related
> Correction: sys admin documentation is related to software obviously.
> -------- Original Message --------
> On Aug 29, 2023, 22:22, Oleander < 7059548@protonmail.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone!
>
> > Does texinfo suit other works that are not software-related like sys
> > admin documentation, lectures, long essays, fictional/non fictional
> > books? From what I've read in the manual so far, it is possible to
> > produce some of them but would you recommend it? Chapter 1 states:
>
> >> Texinfo was devised specifically for the purpose of writing software
> >> documentation and manuals. If you want to write a good manual for
> >> your program, Texinfo has many features which we hope will make your
> >> job easier. However, Texinfo is not intended to be a general-purpose
> >> formatting program.
>
> > If not, what markup do you prefer for works that are not
> > software-related, without missing most of the good things texinfo
> > provides?
>
> In its current state, I would not recommend it.  Use latex3
> from the Latex Project (https://www.latex-project.org/)  One can use
> colour, images can be made floating, and everything works much better.
>
> Texinfo is still mostly based on tho old tex substrate, and does not
> work very well for non software documentation related things.
>
>