RE: doc of defining minor modes

[Drew Adams]

    > FWIW, I do not agree. It is sometimes useful to enable a
    > minor mode upon load, and there is nothing wrong with that
    > for normal (i.e. respectful) minor modes. If I'm missing
    > something here, let me know - what's the harm (vs "harmless")?

    You don't want to enable the mode just by using customize (which can
    trigger loading of any lisp library).

I don't? Why not? What example are you thinking about? If a library is
loaded by Customize, then it's loaded - so what? And how common is that? If
there is a specific corner case here that causes a problem here, then let's
identify it.

Presumably, any libraries loaded that way should not be allowed (by their
writers) to cause harm. If they would cause harm by turning on a mode, then
they should not do so upon loading. That's all.

If the default value for the library's mode should be on, then it should be
on; if it should be off, then it should be off. If the library mode is
innocuous, then I don't see what the "harm" is in having the default value
be on. The writer of a library should know whether enabling it upon load
would be harmful; if so, then the default value should be nil. That's what
we have a default value for, instead of hard-coding it to nil - no?

Please provide a scenario for a normal, respectful mode, where harm is
caused. If there is a real problem, then let's nail down what the problem is
and then document it. The current "Do not go there!" advice is unclear and
inadequate - we must say what the problem is, if there is one. The doc
should guide the use of `define-minor-mode', including its default-value
provision. A blanket admonition not to use that provision is silly and
unhelpful.