Re: Using a macro makes pdfetex quits and exits with bad status

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com>
> Cc: gavinsmith0123@gmail.com, help-texinfo@gnu.org
> Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2021 19:00:29 +0200
> 
> I used
> 
> cd /home/hagbard/Admir/build/texinfo
> ../../source/texinfo/configure --prefix=/home/hagbard/Admir/bin/texinfo
> make
> sudo make install

The --prefix sets several other directories, including $bindir,
$datadir, and several others.  $bindir is supposed to be on PATH.  If
it isn't, you most probably don't have the stuff expected to be in
$datadir, either.  And that probably means you will have problems when
invoking commands that need to run programs outside of Texinfo, like
TeX etc.

Why didn't you configure Texinfo to be installed in the usual place,
under /usr/local or somesuch?

> make TEXMF=/home/hagbard/Admir/bin/texinfo/bin install-tex

This is wrong in any case, you should have the TEXMF tree in

  /home/hagbard/Admir/bin/texinfo/share/texmf

or somesuch.  And of course one problem is that there's no TEXMF tree
there, because TeX was probably installed in the "usual" places,
somewhere under /usr.  I have absolutely no idea what will happen with
commands involving TeX in such a case.

> Have only been doing what I have been instructed to do.

That's the problem: the instructions assume you have a normal install,
but you don't.  So the instructions can easily be wrong or inaccurate
or incomplete, because no one expects such non-standard installations,
and people usually don't have a lot of experience with those.

> But I have observed some maintainers who consistently ridicule users
> for deviating from the mainstream use of the software.

No one ridiculed you.  You just need to realize that you are on your
own when using this non-standard installation.

> Why can't I have multiple versions of the program and run the ones I
> want?

You can, but you should know very well what you are doing, and how the
different parts, in particular Texinfo and TeX, work together and what
each one of them expects to find where.  If you don't know these
details, my best recommendation is not to do that, as you will be
facing an uphill battle.

> Perhaps texinfo is a pain and you are unable to handle a solution
> that is straightforward.

Texinfo, as any other package, is supposed to be built and installed
according to the supported procedures.  Anything else is always a
pain, with any non-trivial package that installs many files, let alone
depends on other packages that are installed separately.

> At least Gavin tries his best to understand the difficulties users
> face, unlike some others.

I cannot speak for Gavin, I just wanted to warn you so you lower your
expectations about the effectiveness and accuracy of the help you will
get for your hand-made installation.  If you don't like what I'm
telling you, feel free to disregard the advice and keep trying to make
your installation work.

> Can you give we a scheme that works so I can test the development version
> independently of any other texinfo setup I have?

No, I can't, not a practical scheme anyway.  For example, I have no
idea how to force TeX to work correctly with texinfo.tex in one place
and the full TEXMF tree in another.

Why not simply install the development version instead the one you
have already?  It will definitely be simpler to set up and use than
what you are going through.