Re: Make call-process (and start-process?) filename handlers?

[Richard Stallman]

    The `shell-command' precedent as well as the `dired-call-process' precedent
    show that there is something to say for `call-process' (and by extension
    `start-process') to call a file-name-handler depending on default-directory.

I'm not convinced.

dired-call-process is used for a few specific programs, to operate on
files in the default directory and its subdirectories.  In those limited
cases, it should do the right thing.

I'm concerned about shell-command, because it looks like this will
make all shell commands execute remotely when you are visiting a
remote file.  That is not natural, and not necessarily correct; it
could cause a painful surprise.  It might be ok as a special exception
feature, if it were documented as one.  Currently it isn't.

If we did something like this for call-process, I expect it would
break programs that run call-process for specific commands that do not
use the default-directory.  They expect the command to do the same
thing regardless of whether default-directory is remote.