I had that problem, and chased it down and fixed it myself (finding the base builder class to turn talk back off). While related, it's not my actual question. Quoting the documentation from Mere Mortals 6.1.2, page 351, default SET settings:

-----
Here is a list of the SET commands handled by the CSessionEnvironment class along with the default value to which they are set. The values in bold indicate non-VFP default values:

SET TALK ON SET ANSI OFF
SET BLOCKSIZE 1 SET CARRY OFF
SET CENTURY ON SET CENTURY TO 19
-----

Okay, the Bold doesn't paste, but the SET TALK 'ON' is bold, so the assumed default setting for TALK is OFF. Except that with or without the framework, VFP starts every new datasession with talk ON, and I want it OFF.