What would your ideal computer environment look like? I don't mean hardware per se, but like, how it's interacted with, what it does or doesn't do, etc. 
@joepie91 I want the Holodeck, so that I can reconfigure my interface and environment on the fly as tasks and work style/process evolve. Object-oriented environment: if I need a tool, I instantiate it. When I'm done with it, I dispose it, to avoid clutter and free up resources. This applies to hardware as well as software in the Holodeck.
@joepie91 something like the command pattern model of symbolics machines, where whatever you tell the computer to do:
* goes on a history you can see
* is accessible both by entering text or selecting things in the UI or other means
* it has a clear way of asking for parameters to the command, and you can use several different means of selecting what you’re asking the computer to work on
In a way CLIM/the symbolics UI was really similar to the speech input systems like alexa/siri that currently are only good for timers because they do not understand that command pattern very well.
@joepie91 I may be the weird one here but I need it mostly mouse based. I don't remember keybinds for 10 programs. Give me a button, a consistent icon theme and working tool tips. Make it able to work with big files (most stuff can't handle big files and it annoys me) and allow me to be flexible. Also give me a good search. I forget stuff. Let me search it. And don't hide stuff like word does. Oh and don't be a Web App if possible. It sucks.
@joepie91 oh and to make it even worse: bonus points for a good git integration. And yes I want it all in git or a git like system like ostree. I make dumb things and I want to be able to easily roll stuff back.
@joepie91 a physical "Stop holding onto memory when I close a tab, WSL!" button. And one for giving npm/yarn a kick to make them just work...
@joepie91 Ideally:
everything has documentation that explains the how and why, in addition to the what
no software does anything unless instructed to do so
open software and hardware
everything can be scaled onto multiple machines if needed
That last one sounds a lot like Plan9 
minimal
delivers media, (text) messages to and fro
all display formatting happens locally
not a surveillance/profit center- a (federated) community utility
🪷
@joepie91 I'd be happy with a computer that doesn't freeze completely when a program asks for all the memory and more by mistake
@joepie91 I can only tell you what I don't want:
ads
changes for change's sake
unchangeable defaults or defaults that reset every time there's an update
forced reboots
constant updates and short support windows
monochromatic uniformity over colorful skeuomorphism
There's some things I like, but I don't know if that means they're ideal. And just because they might be ideal for me, doesn't mean they're ideal for anybody else.
I wish more people would move slowly and fix things, you know?
@joepie91 to be clear, when I say "no constant updates" I don't mean "don't update software when there's something wrong", I mean stuff like adding new features all the time and deprecating old versions because they can't be arsed to keep them secure.
Two years is not long term support >_<
@joepie91 Partial answer: a laptop with a docking station, so I don't have to plug the peripherals in every time.
@joepie91 tbh I don't know. But I do know that an ideal system can not exist as long as capitalism and private property (IP specifically) continue to.
@joepie91 i already have a lot of what I want UX wise to be comfortable, but an underlying philosophy I don't like is The Application: it is It's Own Thing though maybe it has some Apis, File Formats or Addons for you to hook into.
The Application cannot be scripted in a language I already enjoy, I cannot write a macro for it that does the weird thing I want (unless it's a text editor, then *maybe*)
i wish for an OS, a bit like TempleOS, where i can pop a terminal and do some esoteric thing. an OS where I can hook into my Element install easily and make it copy my stickers or whatnot from some other program's API with a bit of work.
i dont want to be a known usecase, i want to craft my own experience that suits me, but currently that takes hours or days of work and very specialized expertise. i've patched or configured just about every piece of software i regularly use where it was possible in a reasonable amount of effort, but we have no system-wide *Inspect Element* and it's a real shame for quite a few reasons.
@joepie91 not a single terminal emulator in sight!
And also other features, but that's a good start.
@joepie91 Does it even matter? Vendors aren't listening until customers are leaving in droves. Subscription and vertical integration (Apple, O365) pretty much ensure that doesn't happen.
Fine, I'll play:
1) Do what ask and only what I ask: paste formatting, admin blocks, raw device (b)locking. Linux is close (when VIM is in paste mode)
2) Don't do sneaky stuff behind our backs: AI, auto-whatever, search manipulation, Office apps using cloud-first writes
3) Fix WSL on VPN
4 ) DarkMode
@joepie91 A smalltalk for people who want static type systems but not to commit (at all!) to what they are.
Oh, and it needs to have some way of representing something that is guaranteed to be plain old syntax with no computational behaviour - and I'm not talking about strings.
@joepie91 ok,
Tiling window manager
radial menus
tabbed file manager
no windowbar (windows closed from desktop switcher with middlemouse)
no tab close button (closed with middle mouse
windows moved with alt-drag rather than grabbing a window
windows maximised with alt doubleclick
mouse gestures instead of macros
many virtual desktops
thats what comes to the top of my head