This is the type of issues that nicely lead to security bugs It's also the type of functionality that enables the efficient use of high performance C libraries

This is the type of issues that nicely lead to security bugs It's also the type of functionality that enables the efficient use of high performance C libraries and existing code (I use it to great effect with the Intel compiler for extremely high performance SIMD code). The "someone might not use it right, therefore it's anathema" notion is misguided, and is orthogonal with the philosophy of Go. Even C# and Java -- the pinnacle of "enterprise" languages -- understand and respect the notion of pointer sharing, and early on built in mechanisms to support it. Go is a league above, though, given that it follows C struct layout rules. But I see where the person proposing banning it got their notion from -- it's a classic hubris of "if it isn't important to me, it isn't important to anyone". A compacting GC has benefits, but the lazy notion of wholesale blocking broad and powerful uses because one doesn't personally benefit from them is how languages die.