>> The problem is that once the #defines or inlines exist in a header,
>> users of the defines/inlines will include that header to get the
>> definitions.  At this point both the structure and the
>> defines/inlines become visible to the users, and nobody can prevent
>> the users to use the field members of the functions directly instead
>> of going through the inlines.
> C isn't an object-oriented language where we can really hide that
> stuff.  All we can do is provide the proper interfaces, and shoot
> down any patches that Do the Wrong Thing.

Well, it *is* possible to make it more difficult.  We could, for
example, gratuitously rename the non-publicized struct members once a
month, thus overtly breaking any code that's depending on them.  (Of
course, this implies renaming them in the implementation code that *is*
supposed to use them, too.)

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