Dream Setup

Many years ago I used Plan 9 at work. I still miss some of the features, chief of which was the sense that everything was a filesystem, and that all my files where available everywhere. Acme was cool, too, but I did miss Emacs, even if I know it's sacrilegious to say.

As a programmer I also appreciated the incredibly easy interface against systems looking like filesystems, like the window system, even a remote window system, or a remote IMAP server. It all felt integrated, in a way, but still very unixy.

I would probably enjoy a modern version of a Lisp Machine environment like Symbolics' Genera, or maybe a SmallTalk or Oberon OS. Maybe we could combine them with the ease and simplicity of the Plan 9 view of "everything is a file"? These totally integrated environments feel like something we have lost.

Staying in Emacs all day, like I do, comes close, I suppose, but I would like to integrate even more. Combine this with a remote always available filesystem for my home directory, possible with offline caching and we're really set. Or maybe the thing closest to me is just a terminal, like in traditional Plan 9?

Of course, with a modern version of these systems I would also have access to a modern browser and all the necessary tools for the modern Internet.

And, also of course, everything would be open source!

From Prof. Dr. Ralf Möller's Symbolics pages.

From Niklaus Wirth's pages (RIP!).

I'm reasonably happy with my HHKBs but I've been glancing over to the world of split keyboards for a while.

I've mostly been drooling over low profile split ortholinear keyboards for a while, like the Corne LP 42 or the ZSA Voyager. Maybe the dream setup should have one of those?

From Boardsource.

I like my old CST L-Tracs but a trackball like that feels a bit high when using a low-profile keyboard. Perhaps I should look into using a flatter trackball like the Kensington Slimblade?

From Kensington.

The completely square 26.5" Eizo EV2730Q (1920x1920) looks very nice but doesn't seem to be available anymore. If Eizo would reintroduce something like this, perhaps with a higher resolution, I would probably buy it. There are too few square monitors around!

I'm afraid the LG DualUp almost square monitor might be too high, at least in default position. It might be better twisted 90 degrees.

I like to keep my monitors fastened to a gas arm for the space and easy repositioning. I would probably do the same with this one.

I like to move away from x86 on my workstation. Maybe use RISC-V?

Of course, capabilities in hardware, something like CHERI, would be nice, to stop a number of ordinary software bugs by hardware.

Considering what I do at work I would, of course, like my computer to do some simple unconditional measurement before starting anything, just like the Tillitis TKey. This could be used by the OS boot loader or the operating system itself for generating key material, for instance to help unlock the encrypted hard disk, and for other kind of authentication.

It would be awesome if all, or at least most, of this would be open hardware and the firmware open source.

I've been using terminals for a long time, both character terminals and X terminals. The best thing with them was… silence! I really dislike fan noise. If I have to listen something let me choose it myself, like Hocico or Front Line Assembly, not fan noise. Yes, I'm aware some people close to me consider some of my "music" to be more or less noise, but yeah, I chose it myself.

A noiseless computer is important. If I don't have to manage it much, just like a terminal of old, that would probably be even better.

I like the possibility to just throw my computer in a backpack and compute from everywhere, so either my dream setup is some kind of laptop, or I have a laptop as well, with very easy ways to get hold of my home directory or connect to my Real Machine.

It would be interesting to investigate something really small like the new MNT Pocket Reform, a very small laptop-like computer. I just wish it had much more battery time. It would also be cool if it, like it's big brother the MNT Reform, could use LiFePO4, and be replacable cell by cell.

From the Crowdsupply campaign.

I don't need a powerful CPU, but RAM and storage is another matter, especially if I can't connect to my home directory on some server really easy.

If I can get away with running any necessary virtual machines on a server, I could also lower my requirements on RAM.

If the whole thing closest to me was just a terminal, even a laptop "terminal", that wouldn't require much at all, but would, of course, be dependent on a a very reliable network connection all the time.

What's your dream setup?