Emacs and changing documentation formats

I don't understand this sentence, in context of the article's topic. The only task of TeX at hand is to produce typeset versions of a Texinfo documentation (PDF/Postscript). LaTeX is not involved at all.

Creation of other formats is the task of makeinfo, which can produce Docbook, HTML, XML, plain text, and, of course, Info.

man pages are not supported by makeinfo, granted -- but that is IMHO quite difficult, as the structure of a user manual or programming language manual (that's what Texinfo is used for most often) and of a man page is often quite different. I expect from a man page sections like NAME, SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION, OPTIONS, etc., -- all of them not appearing in that way in a user manual.

So please, would you please care to explain what your (correct) notion that TeX is a poor tool to produce HTML or plain text has to do with the actual tool (makeinfo) that is used to produce these formats?

> Texinfo is slightly better at producing HTML, but it still feels like
> an afterthought.

Since makeinfo creates Info, the raison d'etre of Texinfo, it is unlikely to be an afterthought itself. HTML creation is surely implemented later, as Texinfo existed before HTML. Since Texinfo markup was a major influence in shaping the HTML markup tags, it's not difficult. Existing styles are dreadful, though; some designer's work would be handy.

Your first paragraph can be interpreted as if you think that Texinfo has something to do with TeX or LaTeX (maybe because it starts with the same two [sic!] characters as TeX?). It hasn't. AFAIR, it might even predate LaTeX. (FWIW: I'm involved in the development of TeX and LaTeX, but not of Texinfo.)