### 20.1.1 `makeinfo` Preferred

The `makeinfo` utility creates an Info file from a Texinfo source file more quickly than either of the Emacs formatting commands and provides better error messages. We recommend it. `makeinfo` is a C program that is independent of Emacs. You do not need to run Emacs to use `makeinfo`, which means you can use `makeinfo` on machines that are too small to run Emacs. You can run `makeinfo` in any one of three ways: from an operating system shell, from a shell inside Emacs, or by typing the `C-c C-m C-r` or the `C-c C-m C-b` command in Texinfo mode in Emacs.

The `texinfo-format-region` and the `texinfo-format-buffer` commands are useful if you cannot run `makeinfo`. Also, in some circumstances, they format short regions or buffers more quickly than `makeinfo`.