One of the goals I have is to keep the required runtime absolutely minimal, as well -- I'm ok with the compiler inserting some user-defined code in the appropriate places to initialize or release values, but I'd like to avoid growing the required code in https://github.com/oridb/mc/tree/master/rt unless it's absolutely necessary.

And yes, that ~60 lines per platform is really all that's needed. (And actually, I should be able to merge more of it for SysV platforms.)

So, I've thought about a GC, but I'd really prefer not to have it.