I wouldn't diss those functions on the basis of modern filesystems. I would diss them because you could write a shorter bel.bel with rdc/wrc instead and, IMHO,

I wouldn't diss those functions on the basis of modern filesystems. I would diss them because you could write a shorter bel.bel with rdc/wrc instead and, IMHO, without making the language less self-specified (since 'chars contains opaque character values from the host system).