In article <199412120808.AAA07030@helix.cs.orst.edu>,
Jason Thorpe  <thorpej@cs.orst.edu> wrote:
: Really, this could be described as a bug (or just poorly written code) in
: the texinfo package, but I think that this issue warrants some
: attention.  I mean, it seems to me that the maximum file size should be
: passable to read(2) as an argument...

It isn't and never has.  Nor should it. Think about this: how
much *can* you read in one gulp? Obviously, no more than can fit
into a single object. That is, a size that'll fit into size_t.

The code is broken. End of debate.