> In another world, I can envision computers running operating systems which are totally transparent and easily understood by their users. All running services would be opt-in and users would be fully aware of exactly what's happening on their machines. That would be the world where end-to-end internet connectivity is highly desirable.
Even then, you have the issue of bugs - not just in the programs themselves, but also in the kernel-mode stack and even in the hardware. As long as something is reachable from the Internet, it will get scanned and assaulted from the Internet - and the lower your attack surface is, the better.
operating systems which are totally transparent and easily understood by their users
I sort of glossed over this part so now I have a chance to elaborate. Alan Kay has put a ton of thought into this issue [1]. He firmly believes that we can build an operating system and application software with an extremely small footprint (LOC's) so that a single person can understand the whole thing.
Since he gave that talk, we've moved further and further away from Kay's vision. We've made things more and more complex, opaque, centralized, and difficult to change. We've given away our future to big tech companies. Heck, we've even given away the past. We've lost much of the freedom we had back in the 90's, let alone the 70's and 80's when Kay did so much of his work. We're going to have to work incredibly hard just to regain what we've lost.
Even then, you have the issue of bugs - not just in the programs themselves, but also in the kernel-mode stack and even in the hardware. As long as something is reachable from the Internet, it will get scanned and assaulted from the Internet - and the lower your attack surface is, the better.