This is the README file for the GNU Texinfo distribution. Texinfo is the preferred documentation format for GNU software.

Copyright 1992-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice and this notice are preserved.

Home page: https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/

Primary distribution point: https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/texinfo/ automatic mirror redirection: https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/texinfo/ mirror list: https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html

Texinfo is a documentation system that uses a single source to produce many forms of output:

• a PDF or DVI document (via the TeX typesetting system) with the normal features of a book, including sectioning, cross references, indices, etc.
• an Info file with analogous features
• a plain text (ASCII) file
• HTML output suitable for use with a web browser
• an EPUB 3 e-book
• a LaTeX file, which can then be used to create a PDF
• a Docbook file

See INSTALL* for installation instructions.

To get started with Texinfo, you can read the Texinfo manual online at https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/manual/texinfo.

If you don't have Internet access, you can read the manual locally:

• first, build the distribution.
• then, for HTML, run: make -C doc html and you can start reading at doc/texinfo_html/index.html.
• for PDF, if you have a working TeX, run: make -C doc pdf
• for Info, you can read the manual: ./info/ginfo doc/info-stnd and/or read the Texinfo manual: ./info/ginfo doc/texinfo

Texinfo mailing lists and archives:

• https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-texinfo for bug reports, enhancement suggestions, technical discussion.
• https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-texinfo for authoring questions and general discussion.

Bug reports: Please include enough information for the maintainers to reproduce the problem. Generally speaking, that means:

• the contents of all input files needed to reproduce the bug (crucial!).
• a statement of the problem and any samples of the erroneous output.
• the version number of Texinfo and the program(s) involved (use --version).
• hardware and operating system information (uname -a).
• unusual options you gave to configure, if any (try ./config.status --help).
• anything else that you think could be helpful.

Patches are welcome; if possible, please make them with diff -c or git diff and include ChangeLog entries.

See README-hacking for information on the Texinfo development environment -- any interested parties are welcome. If you're a programmer and wish to contribute, this should get you started.

This distribution includes the following files, among others: README This file. README-hacking Texinfo developer information.

INSTALL                Texinfo-specific installation notes.
NEWS                   Summary of new features by release.

Texinfo documentation files doc/texinfo.texi Describes the Texinfo language and many of the associated tools. It tells how to use Texinfo to write documentation, how to use Texinfo mode in GNU Emacs, TeX, texi2any, and much else.

doc/info-stnd.texi     How to use the standalone GNU Info reader that is
                       included in this distribution.

Printing-related files: doc/texinfo.tex This implements Texinfo in TeX, to typeset a Texinfo file into a DVI or PDF file.

util/texi2dvi          This is a shell script for producing an
                       indexed DVI file using TeX and texindex.

util/texi2pdf          Generate PDF (wrapper for texi2dvi).

Source directories: djgpp/ Support for compiling under DJGPP. gnulib/ Support files from Gnulib. info/ Standalone Info reader. install-info/ Maintain the Info dir file. js/ Enhanced browsing of HTML manuals with JavaScript. tp/ Texinfo Parser in Perl, includes texi2any. texindex/ The `texindex' program that generates sorted indices used by TeX when typesetting a file for printing.

Translation support: po/ Strings of the programs. po_document/ Strings in generated Texinfo documents.

Installation support: Makefile.am Read by Automake to create a Makefile.in. Makefile.in Read by configure to make a Makefile, created by Automake. configure.ac Read by Autoconf to create `configure'. configure Configuration script for local conditions, created by Autoconf. build-aux/ Common files.

The util/ directory contains a few other scripts, e.g., examples of using texi2any in various ways. See util/README.

Some files in this package have their copyright years stated as a range ('2008-2010') rather than listed as individual years ('2008, 2009, 2010').