The original parent was talking about removing all helpers,

> They show that various escape hatches can be eliminated or simplified. However they don't have a plan to eliminate all escape hatches

which simply doesn't make sense. The string helpers are a good example one might not have thought of beyond helpers that expose linux specific functionality.

The specific quantity of "quite a few" was left intentionally vague as it's orthogonal to my core point.

And yes, string ops are difficult if not impossible to write in verified bpf; that's almost a restatement of what I've been saying this whole thread.