XPost: alt.folklore.computers   
   From: Peter@Iron-Spring.com   
      
   On 1/5/26 14:42, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   > On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 11:50:58 -0800, John Ames wrote:   
   >   
   >> On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 12:33:53 -0700   
   >> Peter Flass  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> Actually, many systems programming languages have no I/O, the idea   
   >>> being that non-OS programs call the OS to do the I/O, and the OS   
   >>> interacts directly with the hardware.   
   >>   
   >> "Systems programming" usually implies implementation of an OS, though,   
   >> and IIRC that was the sense that Kernighan was using. You can't excuse   
   >> limitations by "oh, the OS handles that" when your program *is* the OS.*   
   >   
   > That’s precisely the point that Peter Flass was trying to make: the   
   > lack of built-in I/O features in a language designed to implement   
   > operating systems isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.   
      
   The I/O package is probably a huge part of any program that uses it.   
   printf, for example, needs to support the conversion of all possible   
   data types to character for output.   
      
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