Thank you for you prompt
replies.
For the reasons I've already
stated, I've decided my best course at this point is to revert to
an earlier version of AUCTeX, (perhaps the last 12.x version?),
and otherwise freeze all Emacs packages at their current versions,
and revert Emacs to 27.x. Reverting Emacs has been easy, but I
don't know how to get back to AUCTeX 12.x. If you can suggest how
I can do this, I would be grateful.
If I may further comment, I do
not agree with backwards incompatible changes in the behavior of
Emacs or its packages. It is my opinion that Emacs development
from this point forward should transition to legacy mode, with bug
fixes and adaptations to OS upgrades, but with no further changes
in behavior. New development should be diverted to using
cross-editor technologies like language server protocol, and
widely used non-proprietary programming languages like _javascript_.
Those few of us who are still
using Emacs are not eager to invest time adapting to new and
potentially problematic behaviors, especially since almost all of
us are probably already transitioning to other editors.
If I may suggest, I would be
happy to have the functionality of AUCTeX available in alternative
editors. I think this would be welcomed by a much larger group of
potential users than Emacs will likely ever again have.