bug#55645: src/print.c; print_object changes make it impossible to compare elisp code across versions

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> Another way forward is to revert the change.  And here I'm asking Lars
> what are the reasons for the change, except some aesthetics-related
> considerations, whereby we basically didn't see why the escapes are
> needed.  If the only problems are that we didn't see a good reason for
> keeping the escapes, perhaps now we do have a good reason?

It was mostly an aesthetic change, but sometimes aesthetics are
important.  People do use dot characters in symbols, but it's confusing
to see Emacs display these in a weird way -- so they may be discouraged
from doing so when that's a natural thing to do.

So I'm not very enthusiastic about reverting the change, especially (as
you say):

> If someone would show me a design that is based on this, I'd tell them
> they place their bet on a dubious horse, and suggest to find a better
> design.

The reason for reverting it would be to support a use case that we don't
support anyway.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no