...system().^1.1

An interface for this function already exists in the standard module os -- it was chosen as a simple and straightfoward example.

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...borrow^1.2

The metaphor of ``borrowing'' a reference is not completely correct: the owner still has a copy of the reference.

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... completely.^1.3

Checking that the reference count is at least 1 does not work -- the reference count itself could be in freed memory and may thus be reused for another object!

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...tex2html_comment_mark^1.4

These guarantees don't hold when you use the ``old'' style calling convention -- this is still found in much existing code.

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... directory.^3.1

Check the manual page of the dl package for details.

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