It is "underengineered" perhaps if you believe it is the job of the language to prevent memory leaks (which Rust also doesn't). IMHO it is just fine - and in fact better - if the language is small and analysis is done by a separate tool.
I also do not see why the simplicity of C should lead to complexity. I have build complex systems in C. I did this using C++ in the past, but switched to C because I found out that all the complexity of C++ was a huge distraction and not something that helps me design better systems. C++ also came with a lot of claims that all the features are absolutely needed to build good abstractions and that this is not possible in C, something I found to be completely false. (And then, a lot of complex and still extremely reliable software I use daily is build in C. My practical experience completely contradicts the myth propagated nowadays by some that all C is inherently bad and unreliable . In my experience it is the exact opposite: The C software I use is in fact the most reliable.)
My view is that Linux and free software is still going strong, because it managed to largely keep out the unnecessary complexity out of the core infrastructure. With Rust and AI, I worry that now get a lot of overly complex infrastructure and that it will be hard to ever get this complexity under control again.
I also do not see why the simplicity of C should lead to complexity. I have build complex systems in C. I did this using C++ in the past, but switched to C because I found out that all the complexity of C++ was a huge distraction and not something that helps me design better systems. C++ also came with a lot of claims that all the features are absolutely needed to build good abstractions and that this is not possible in C, something I found to be completely false. (And then, a lot of complex and still extremely reliable software I use daily is build in C. My practical experience completely contradicts the myth propagated nowadays by some that all C is inherently bad and unreliable . In my experience it is the exact opposite: The C software I use is in fact the most reliable.)
My view is that Linux and free software is still going strong, because it managed to largely keep out the unnecessary complexity out of the core infrastructure. With Rust and AI, I worry that now get a lot of overly complex infrastructure and that it will be hard to ever get this complexity under control again.