Please see my comment below (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9447938) -- a key point is that, as always, you have to write `unsafe` to get memory unsafety in Rust, period. This is Rust's core guarantee. The issue being reported here is a safety problem caused by a particular use of `unsafe` blocks. The debate is largely about what unsafe blocks should or shouldn't be able to assume.