-files. While this task is an applicative one -- no standard specifies an
-API for it --, the na@"ive code has some portability problems because on
-some platforms the length of file name components is limited to 30
-characters or so. Gnulib handles that.
-
-Similarly, Gnulib has a facility for executing a command in a subprocess.
-It is at the same time a portability enhancement (it works on Unix and
-Windows, compared to the classical @code{fork()}/@code{exec()} which is
-not portable to Windows), as well as an application aid: it takes care of
-redirecting stdin and/or stdout if desired, and emits an error message if
-the subprocess failed.
+files. While this task is entirely at the application level --- no
+standard specifies an API for it --- the na@"{@dotless{i}}ve code has
+some portability problems because on some platforms the length of file
+name components is limited to 30 characters or so. Gnulib handles
+that.
+
+Similarly, Gnulib has a facility for executing a command in a
+subprocess. It is at the same time a portability enhancement (it
+works on GNU/Unix and Windows, compared to the classical
+@code{fork()}/@code{exec()} which is not portable to Windows), as well
+as an application aid: it takes care of redirecting stdin and/or
+stdout if desired, and emits an error message if the subprocess
+failed.