[texhax] Change the definition of LaTeX \oval?

[Karl Berry]

    And I'd like to ask list members whether my patches would cause
    some bad effects on existing LaTeX packages and sources.

Could you please describe in a few words what your change is doing?
I mean, what did the "bad implementation" do before and what you are
doing differently now?

It seems the fundamental command being used was
\leaders\vrule\@width\@wholewidth before, and that that hasn't changed.
I'd rather try to understand the patch in light of an explanation than
to guess at what your intentions are.

Thank you for delving into this so deeply.  I've seen that warning
myself but never looked into it.  -k