`message' with quotes [was: bug#23425: `message' wrongly corrupts ' to curly quote]

[Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

`text-quoting-style' controls this (at least in Emacs 25).
So at least you can bind that to `grave' around any code
that uses `message', to get back the sane, pre-Emacs 25
behavior.

Given that, is there any reason for Alan's proposed new
format escapes to to tell Emacs: "Hands off my quotes!"?

Of course, you should not HAVE to do that.  That should
be the _default_ behavior: no crazy quote translation.

`electric-quote-mode' is DISabled by default.  We got one
thing right!

Why is it that the crazy quote translation for help and
`message' happens by default, and you have to jump through
a nearly secret hoop to get back the sane behavior?

That makes no sense.  It's an incompatible change that
affects all older code as well.

The default for `text-quoting-style' should be the
misleadingly named `grave' behavior, i.e., preserve the
long-established behavior of just leaving ` and ' alone.

Instead, it is a value that gives you curly quotes when
available.  That behavior should not be the default (and
it really should have a value such as `prefer-curly', not
`nil').

Then, anyone wanting to be adventurous or what s?he
considers "modern" could always bind it to `prefer-curly'
or whatever, to get today's misguided default behavior,
or to `curve' to always get translation-to-curly.

This one we got backwards.

It's not too late to change the default behavior of
`text-quoting-style'.  (But it is probably too late
to change the meaning of `nil' for it.)  Just make
the initial value `grave', not `nil'.

It's also a mistake to (in effect) hide this variable
from ordinary users, instead of making it easy for them
to express their preferences in this regard.  This is
what the Elisp manual says about it (it is not in the
Emacs manual at all):

  This variable can be used by experts on platforms that
  have problems with curved quotes.  As it is not intended
  for casual use, it is not a user option.

That couldn't be more misguided.  Experts?  Only platforms
that have "problems with curved quotes"?  Not for casual
use?  It's a self-styled "style" variable, but it's not for
you or me.  Sheesh.  Why?  What happened to the interests
of individual users?