Re: Footnotes in the manual (hidden option?)

[ST <smntov@gmail.com>]

On Wed, 2018-05-16 at 14:31 -0400, Kaushal Modi wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 2:27 PM ST <smntov@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>         Hello,
>         
>         in the manual
>         
>         https://orgmode.org/manual/Footnotes.html#Footnotes
>         
>         it says that footnotes[fn:1]
>         
>         [fn:1] look like this
>         
>         
>         but actually[1] 
>         
>         [1] works as well and looks even better.
>         
>         So why this option is not documented?
> 
> 
> I would think that's so because canonically Org mode using [fn:1]
> style. It looks like you are manually typing the footnote refs and
> definitions.
> 
> 
> Try using C-c C-x f binding.. you will see that Org inserts the
> footnotes in the documented style.
> 
> 
> I would say that the "fn"-style footnotes remove any kind of
> ambiguity.. 

It's true that [1] alone may very well introduce ambiguity, but why not
to take something more lightweight and language/alphabet independent,
like [^1]?

1. It's three times shorter (its important if you type manually in
GitLab/GitHub without the C-c C-x f binding);
2. If you type in another language - you don't have to switch the
keyboard;
3. If your text is in another alphabet - latin "fn" disturbs the eye.
4. It feels a bit heavy as a markup for the lightweight org .

(a) May I propose the [^1] as an alternative footnotes syntax as a new
feature?
(b) How can I define such syntax by my own as a footnote?

Thank you!