> The answer everyone else is using is to add an operating system and an application language as a starting assumption, and then slowly grind through every issue caused by giving up control at the base layer to these more automatic systems.
The OS community generally understands in theory, although this is much less accepted in practice, that mechanism and policy should be separated as much as possible. Forth, operating systems, Smalltalk, etc. all converge on making programmed systems, if in substantially different contexts, and this becomes a question of layering abstractions. A Forth-like OS that would solve your problems is related to microkernels and exokernels. Minimality and simplicity is essential for foundational services.
The OS community generally understands in theory, although this is much less accepted in practice, that mechanism and policy should be separated as much as possible. Forth, operating systems, Smalltalk, etc. all converge on making programmed systems, if in substantially different contexts, and this becomes a question of layering abstractions. A Forth-like OS that would solve your problems is related to microkernels and exokernels. Minimality and simplicity is essential for foundational services.