getenv() is perfectly fine, it's setenv() that is the problem. Which in theory this wouldn't be using since the env would be set up prior to starting that myst

getenv() is perfectly fine, it's setenv() that is the problem. Which in theory this wouldn't be using since the env would be set up prior to starting that mystical app. But yes, a flat namespace, with string values, shared as a free-for-all with who knows what libraries and modules you're loading… that's not a good idea even if it didn't have safety issues in setenv().