Re: [PATCH] docs: sphinx-pre-install: warn about unsupported Docutils versions

[Masaharu Noguchi]

Hi Akira,

Thank you for the review, and for the pointer to #3099.

On Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:56:16 +0900, Akira Yokosawa wrote:
>> Sphinx gained Docutils 0.22 support in 9.0.0
>
> This is not the case.  It was done in Sphinx 9.1.0.

You are right about what matters here.  9.0.0 was announced as the release
with Docutils 0.22 support, but the LaTeX size limit that actually breaks
these builds is #3099, which was not fixed until 9.1.0 -- so the boundary
has to be 9.1.0, and v1's check skips the whole 9.0.x series.  I have since
built those, and they fail:

	sphinx   docutils   core-api   admin-guide
	------------------------------------------
	8.2.3    0.22.4     FAILS      FAILS
	9.0.0    0.22.4     FAILS      FAILS
	9.0.4    0.22.4     FAILS      FAILS
	9.1.0    0.22.4     ok         ok

Worth noting that the 9.0.x rows are not distro-patched: 9.0.0 through 9.0.4
declare "docutils>=0.20,<0.23" themselves, so a plain "pip install
sphinx==9.0.4" pulls Docutils 0.22.4 on its own.  So the pairing is reachable
without any distribution relaxing anything.

> Fedora 45 will come with Sphinx 9.1.0.

I tested that pairing before replying, and you are right: Sphinx 9.1.0 with
Docutils 0.23, which is what F45 and rawhide ship, builds both books cleanly
here -- core-api at 1215 pages, admin-guide at 3074, no errors.  So F45 is
fine.

I will fix the constant either way.

Thanks,
Masaharu