> absolutely don't want this on the same machine you use to browse the web and run untrusted javascript

100% agree, I said it in my comment :)

There's no chance you can get away with unrestricted memory access on a machine that ever talks to any other unknown machine ever, on any protocol and for any reason.

> It's never been easier for kids to get into programming.

I honestly don't know about that. Some things are easier, others are harder. There's no question the amount of quality information out there makes it much easier for someone who wants to learn, but even setting up a development environment is a huge blocker for a complete beginner. Hello world is the hardest program you're ever going to code, it's all downhill from there. And that's where the layers of abstraction are coming back to bite you.

Of course everyone who wants to learn how to program is going to overcome that, most people are just not interested in the first place and it's kind of dumb to assume they'd learn if only the environment were different, etc.

OTOH I wonder if the layers of crap aren't just making it harder for those who are interested.

You don't even need to install anything, there are plenty of programming environments online. My kids wrote their first programs using Scratch, there are dozens of sites that will let you type in Python and run it right there and then. There are programming apps for mobile phones and tablets. You can even develop applications in Swift on the iPad using Playgrounds and soon will be able to upload them directly to the App Store.

I agree that the actual barriers are probably lower than ever, e.g. with Scratch, Playgrounds, replit or even the browser JS console. I think the bigger issue is that the competition for (child) attention and interest is much fiercer nowadays. In the 1980s we had a few channels of fixed TV programs, maybe a handful of expensive computer/video games, LEGO and some plastic toys. Even back then, interest in programming was only for a select few.

Lets not fool ourselves, programming has a steep effort-reward curve, maybe even steeper than chess or music instruments. Nowadays it's competing against an infinite supply of deliberately tuned shallow-curved attention seekers like youtube/tiktok videos and app store quasi-games.

> I agree that the actual barriers are probably lower than ever

The barriers for programming something that other find usefull is way higher today.

Ergonomics were much, much worse before. I had my Commodore 64 hooked up to the TV in the living room. It was not easy to program using an old tube TV displaying text with 320x200 resolution graphics.

Which is why the first thing 1980's game developers would do when getting out of their bedrooms into proper offices, was migrating into development systems based on systems like VMS/UNIX or similar, and then upload the games into the Speccy and C64 via the extensions port.