[joshuajomiller]

Couldn't there be a middle ground that allows you to restart/reset a single application?

[kstenerud]

That's likely already baked in, but then you end up with an infrequently run bootstrap code path, and "resetting" an app basically means nuking all of its data (some of which might be important to you).

This is why we have a clear delineation between persistent and ephemeral state.

[PretzelPirate]

The FAQ calls this out as a way to recover from a bad state. It seems to already be implemented in the OS.

[theamk]

But without explicit serialization/de-serialization code, restarting an app will lose all the related data.

So if your text processor crashes, your documents go bye-bye.

[fsflover]

Sounds like Qubes OS with disposable VMs.