One thing I can do when I need an OS that I can mess around with is running a VM, with for example Linux. This allows me to do the things I want in an open OS,

One thing I can do when I need an OS that I can mess around with is running a VM, with for example Linux. This allows me to do the things I want in an open OS, while still have the nice appliance-machine. In the VM I can mess around as much as I want, need. I can even checkpoint the VM, saving myself from over-messing. Yes using a VM means taking a performance hit. But with the latest Apple machines, and for what I do in the VMs, I haven't experienced any lack of performance that annoys me. One example for what I do is to run double Wireguard tunnels. In MacOS it has been nigh impossibly to get working (and esp not reliably). But works easily in a Linux VM. With this I can proxy through the VM to access remote resources from applications in MacOS. I'm using UTM btw: https://mac.getutm.app/ https://mac.getutm.app/