> Sounds like Worse Is Better™: operating systems that tried to present safer abstractions were at a disadvantage compared to operating systems that shipped wha

> Sounds like Worse Is Better™: operating systems that tried to present safer abstractions were at a disadvantage compared to operating systems that shipped whatever was easiest to implement. What about the Windows API? Windows is a pretty successful OS with a less leaky FS abstraction. I know it's a totally different deal than POSIX (files can't be devices etc), the FS function calls require a seemingly absurd number of arguments, but it does seem safer and clearer what's going to happen.