This reverts commit 02601231fd.
This commit was a refactoring to remove an xrealloc and simplify
utils.[ch]. However, it has a flaw -- it mishandles a substitution
like "$datadir/subdir".
I am backing out the patch in the interests of fixing the regression
before GDB 14. It can be reinstated (with modifications) later if we
like.
Regression tested on x86-64 Fedora 36.