Frank Mittelbach <[log in to unmask]> writes: > anyway, all that struggling nicely vanishes if one uses eTeX version > 2. so why not do that and have a package that tests for eTeX and if > it finds out that it doesn't run under eTeX emits a warning (at the > beginning and end of the run), eg > > \typeout{********************************************************^^J% > *^^J% > * WARNING: ^^J% > *^^J% > * \@spaces The inpmath package was written to support 8bit^^J% > > questions: > > a) any obvious problems with this approach? Yes. You guys crack me up. The inputenc package is a vital part of LaTeX. If it does not work well without eTeX and complains about this with an appropriate warning, that means that non-eTeX-2 should officially be declared deprecated with due warning time. My original proposal of doing such a declaration for the next LaTeX release was violently opposed. Now you propose to do something equivalent, only without prior warning, and actually without announcing it anywhere properly? If we will agree that a good implementation needs to rely on eTeX and that inputenc will give out a warning like that, then it would be not only fair to announce officially that LaTeX should use eTeX starting with the next release if available, but also announce this information on tex-implementors at the very least in order to give the commercial parties a chance to come up with something for their customers when the next LaTeX release happens. And we would want to give out notice to people like Thomas Esser also: the next teTeX release is imminent, and occurs typically only every few years or so. At the very least it would be very desirable to have a fit-for-dummies way or instructions to change the LaTeX engine to eTeX for the case that people want to upgrade their LaTeX in June. This should happen before teTeX-final. So we better come fast to grips about that matter. Even if it is just a "likely" thing to happen, notice should get out in time. And that would mean very soon. -- David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum