Is it just me that wants to have complete control over stuff? I mean if you really have the need to use a library like libevent you most likely know why and could do your own handling rather easily.
I'm not saying there's not a need for libraries like libevent, but IMO it's not needed for most applications. I might be biased because I want complete control and know what happens, I think that's important. I don't want to use a library before I know what happens in the "background". When I know that and know what I need, only then it might be appropriate to use a library.
I'm curious what you mean by "complete control"? Does that mean less abstraction? Or do you want to avoid inversion of control? That is, you want to avoid using callback-based libraries?
I'm not saying there's not a need for libraries like libevent, but IMO it's not needed for most applications. I might be biased because I want complete control and know what happens, I think that's important. I don't want to use a library before I know what happens in the "background". When I know that and know what I need, only then it might be appropriate to use a library.