This is an old post. After doing some quick searches I think this rant was a bit premature. I think the problem boils down to Jekyll _config.yml options that should have been specified in the GitHub instructions. Specifying kramdown is not enough, I think you also have to specify the Jekyll defaults for kramdown which includes "input: GFM"
Backquote fencing for code blocks seems to be the default in GFM so it not working for the OP seems like a config issue. I'm not sure if the default "smart_quotes: lsquo,rsquo,ldquo,rdquo" is compatible with the LaTex quotes the OP uses but there may be a configuration that works for him as well.
Markdown, like all serialization formats, will always have baggage. Once any syntax makes its way into the wild, it is forever unless you are willing to make backwards incompatible
changes. This is also true for public/published APIs. SQL is a bit of both serialization-format-DSL and API-DSL. There are all kinds of brain-dead SQL language choices, both standardized and vendor specific, that are supported forever.
https://jekyllrb.com/docs/configuration/default/
Backquote fencing for code blocks seems to be the default in GFM so it not working for the OP seems like a config issue. I'm not sure if the default "smart_quotes: lsquo,rsquo,ldquo,rdquo" is compatible with the LaTex quotes the OP uses but there may be a configuration that works for him as well.
Markdown, like all serialization formats, will always have baggage. Once any syntax makes its way into the wild, it is forever unless you are willing to make backwards incompatible changes. This is also true for public/published APIs. SQL is a bit of both serialization-format-DSL and API-DSL. There are all kinds of brain-dead SQL language choices, both standardized and vendor specific, that are supported forever.