What software do you use? And is it as simple as you would like, or do you have to make compromises?
I do a lot of compromises. I use:
Linux kernel, Xubuntu distro, jwm, Mousepad (editor), Thunar, xfce4-term, Chromium. I am slowly learning how to use Mutt, Arch Linux, Netsurf and perhaps Hurd or Haiku.