Processing would be quicker?

This would add significant processing overhead because of conversions everwhere. There is a lot of string processing going on inside your CPU already, I’m reasonably sure this would add a measurable overhead.

Plus I believe this would cause even more string related security vulnerabilities to emerge because of additional code that needs to be maintained.

I mean the solution would be to literally just label both sides.

To be fair, GNU did a ton of work at that time (and today still). GCC and glibc alone are monumental works of software. Add programs like emacs and you now have millions of lines of code you need to develop and maintain.

Du hast natürlich recht: Das ist sehr nervig. Vielen Dank für deinen ehrlichen Kommentar!