RE: Major and minor modes

[Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

> > PDF Chapter 2 "Characters, Keys and Commands" has:
> > [introductory text about the chapter]
> > 2.1 Kinds of User Input
> > 2.2 Keys
> > 2.3 Keys and Commands
> >
> > but the HTML has:
> > • 2 Kinds of User Input
> > • 3 Keys
> > • 4 Keys and Commands
> 
> Ah, that...  It's because the manual does this:

<implementation considerations>

> IOW, a book requires somewhat different considerations wrt its
> sectioning than an on-line version of the manual.
>
> > That discrepancy is a bit weird.
> 
> Is it still weird?

Yes.  The PDF or print version of a manual should generally
have the same section numbers (and names) as an HTML or Info
or whatever else version.

It is fine for them to use different formatting.  It is even
fine if they have somewhat different text (e.g. xref text,
contextual paragraphs, whatever).

But section numbers, like section names, are not just content.
They are navigational.  They are used for reference, including
as was the case in this thread: someone pointing to a particular
section by name or number.

[Yes, a _link_ to a section in an online manual is often
preferable to such a purely textual representation.  But that
is not a reason why the section numbers or names should differ.]

As with everything, there might be exceptions.  But what was
shown here does not seem like a good candidate for being an
exception.

(Just one opinion.)