You're really misrepresenting that thread. Here[1] Linus says C is pretty readable in patch format, because it doesn't do overloading (unlike C++, which was the

You're really misrepresenting that thread. Here[1] Linus says C is pretty readable in patch format, because it doesn't do overloading (unlike C++, which was the thread's conversation topic) and thus doesn't much depend on some outside context. Also, C gives the required level of control for kernel programming, in terms of memory model and concurrency (and those conditions implicitly exclude Go), but higher-level languages have something to offer for other problem domains; and in that context GC or concurrency primitives become interesting again. In answer to that last paragraph, someone asked about Go, which is where you got Linus's overall noncommittal answer. [1] http://www.realworldtech.com/beta/forums/index.cfm?action=detail&id=110618&threadid=110549&roomid=2 http://www.realworldtech.com/beta/forums/index.cfm?action=de...