[texhax] how to get underscore _character_ into a .pdf using LaTeX

[Karl Berry]

     > became a default for LaTeX. 

Clearly, the default for "latex" (and "pdflatex") cannot change in any
such way.  That would be obtrusively, horribly, incompatible with
millions of documents over the last decades.

All that I can imagine is providing a new and different L2E format which
is explicitly stated to be incompatible and without any idea of
stability.  I am skeptical that it would end up being more benefit than cost.

karl