Computers should be safe, moral, sane, usable, and productive. From advertising to crashes to privacy problems to slave-made ingredients, they mostly aren’t.
It’s very hard to do much about the hardware, but the Free and Open Source communities have made it possible to have a fairly good computer desktop.
This is what my desktop looks like. With side-by-side 4K monitors, four generous, roughly square pages fit side by side.
Given the traffic my ergonomic sit-stand desk posts still get, somebody will want to read how I’ve tackled these other requirements. I’m starting by publishing my instructions, and hope to follow up with more by topic. These followups will be helpful if you
share some of these requirements
are overwhelmed by choices and just want to know what to do5
are an iconoclast, an unconventional eccentric who marches to the beat of a different drummer.6
Many of these things are doable on Mac, Windows, and other closed platforms, so don’t despair if you haven’t yet taken advantage of the Year of Linux on the Desktop.