This is extract from #211 that enables compilation with GCC. With #211
now in the state of bitrot, I would rather try approaching it in smaller
steps that can be hopefully merged quicker, even if it does not provide
full support for all the features #211 provided.
This will _compile_ correctly with my (@janisozaur) GCC, but clang is
more picky about flexible array members and refuses to compile it yet.
I will extract remaining parts of #211 in future PRs.
I marked @fwcd as author, as he did most of the work in #211.
