Except you're left with cases for which there is no alternative but signals (you name one; a sibling mentions WINCH, and I'll add SIGCHILD.), and for which the

Except you're left with cases for which there is no alternative but signals (you name one; a sibling mentions WINCH, and I'll add SIGCHILD.), and for which the only reliable way to handle the case is to use the self-pipe trick, or maybe a signalfd. It's not a case of "misuse": the API is so truly atrociously bad that any programmers attempt is going to be wrong. I'm aware of the pitfalls, and I do not feel comfortable stating that I would get it right; someone who is not aware of the pitfalls is hopelessly screwed.