(07-11-2020, 04:53 AM)venam Wrote: I think the idea is more overarching than this.
It might be more related to novelty and all the possibilities that a new situation put upon you, making you want to try things, to test, to play to find out what can be done.
That's the case in both freem's minimalist scenario and vain's SoC and single board computers.

Maybe we find current computing "not-fun" because it feels like a well-known box, like an aristocratic society of well-mannered folks with fixed rules and behaviors.

This is where I'm at, but I agree with all of the above comments. I also attempt to keep my system free from resource hogging applications but that doesn't stop me from installing a bunch of crap that I don't need but still enjoy. For me, it's the exploration of things, the excitement of "what can I do with this" etc.. But as I mentioned above, I'm not a programmer or developer. Therefore, I think it kind of depends on how you view your PC. Is it a toy OR a tool? For me, it is a toy. I bought an old ThinkPad because I wanted to run NetBSD and see what I could learn. I have a work laptop too which is running stock gnome3 on pop_os. I don't feel the need to tweak that machine because it serves a higher purpose and I don't want to risk breaking it. My ThinkPad on the other hand, if I bork it, I reinstall and the fun begins again.

I know not everyone has the resources or the time to have a toy machine, but I would highly recommend it. Even if playing to you is just hacking code etc.