Re: gratuitous changes

[Richard Stallman]

       (string-to-char " ") would also work, and would avoid
       the need for a change in Emacs.

    This works, but in certain situations, one may want something more
    concise.  Within lists and arrays, (string-to-char " ") requires
    backquote and comma.

Yes, but that case may never occur.  Character constants `?\ '
are rare enough to begin with, and we only have a problem when
they occur at the end of the real code in a line.