when XEmacs is started with `--vanilla' or `-q', it displays an item
"Load init files" in the menu bar. The name of the command in XEmacs
is `load-user-init-file'.
Maybe Emacs should do have something similar.
The common use case for this feature is a user reports a bug, we ask
them to replicate with "xemacs -vanilla", and now they have error
messages and stuff in buffers. So they hit the "Send Mail" menu item
and get the horrible default MUA when they were expecting Gnus or VM.
That's a good point. We need to work harder to make sure that
`emacs -Q' either refuses to try and send mail (with an error that
explains that mail is not configured) or that does something
sufficiently safe that we're pretty sure it'll work. It used to be that
running `sendmail' was good enough, but nowadays that sadly doesn't cut
it any more.
As for the default MUA itself, I think it's OK as long as it works.