> we can't just replace broken pieces of code with the same simplicity we can replace a broken fridge.

Sure we can. Recompile glibc, dynamic linking, pow.

I wouldn't say that bug you referenced is a strike against C; it could happen in any language that was locale-aware and parsing floats.

For what it's worth, these macros in libcperciva are perfectly readable and maintainable:

  #define ELASTICARRAY_DECL(type, prefix, rectype)			\
  	static inline struct prefix##_struct *				\
  	prefix##_init(size_t nrec)					\
  	{								\
  		struct elasticarray * EA;				\
  									\
  		EA = elasticarray_init(nrec, sizeof(rectype));		\
  		return ((struct prefix##_struct *)EA);			\
  	}								\
  ...

The advice should really be "be careful, it's really easy to write shitty macros, so don't".