[skybrian]

There are lots of libraries in C (and Java) but the question is which ones are essential for whatever you're trying to do? There are lots of Go programs you can write just using the standard library. That appeals to me since I'm generally in favor of avoiding unnecessary dependencies. But if you need it, you need it.

[TillE]

It really depends on what you're doing, but even in common obvious stuff like networking, there can be functionality in libcurl or OpenSSL that you really need but isn't replicated in Go. Several years ago I remember trying to do SSL certificate verification with Python and finding the standard library lacking.

Also bear in mind that good compatibility with C also means good compatibility with just about every other compiled language, including Rust.