Strange output using Markdown export plug-in

[John Laudun]

I have found Markdown to be a real boon when it comes not only to drafting
materials for the web, but also for sending more complex messages by e-mail.
Being able to write in OO and then export to Markdown is fantastic. That
said, when I use the "smart quotes" option under Convert in the services
menu -- this may be a DevonTechnologies service -- I find that the Markdown
plug-in converts those quotes to gibberish, consistent gibberish, but
gibberish. For example, a single close curly quotation mark -- used in a
contraction like "don't" becomes "’."

Has anybody else seen this? How hard is it to open up a plug-in and edit it?
I've been wanting to teach myself something about plug-ins. Is this my
chance?