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Date:         Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:04:54 +0100
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From: Ulrike Fischer <news3@NILILAND.DE>
Subject: Re: inputenc for XeTeX and LuaTeX
To: LATEX-L@LISTSERV.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE
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Status: R

Am Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:23:01 +0100 schrieb David Kastrup:

>> Like Manual I don't think that it is a good idea to load 
>> xetexinputenc or luatexinputenc (or whatever the packages are 
>> called) through inputenc. This packages are currently at best in the 
>> beta-stadium. They haven't been tested much, the problem with 
>> auxiliary files with non-ascii chars generated by the engine hasn't 
>> been solved yet. 
>>
>> inputenc and fontenc are base packages. They shouldn't load 
>> experimental packages which can change from one day to the next and 
>> where it isn't clear that they will stay.
> 
> When the alternative is that they will just break, I don't see the
> advantage.


A lot of package don't work with some engines or need adjustments if
you use another engine or driver. You can't use pstricks with
pdflatex (meaning pdf output), fontspec gives errors when not used
with xetex. But I don't see any requests to write a pstricks wrapper
which loads e.g. pgf when used with pdf-output (and translate all
the pstricks syntax). And the xelatex users handle the current
situation with inputenc quite fine. 

On the other side changing inputenc so that it loads the new engine
specific package introduce the danger of real breaks: the new
packages are still unstable, "not robust" and perhaps buggy. At
least in the case of xelatex bugs could affect real users.    

I don't have a problem to tell xelatex users (and later lualatex
users) not to use inputenc because the package is (currently or for
ever) not suited for this engine. But I at least wouldn't like to
have to tell them to avoid the package because it loads behind their
back buggy or incomplete or non-working or untested code. 


-- 
Ulrike Fischer