# Shared computer

> One organization-scoped Linux workplace — summoned when work needs a machine, not assumed at login, and not a laptop each bot pretends to own.

Canonical: https://chattic.us/wiki/shared-computer/

A **shared computer** is one durable Linux workplace for the whole organization. Bots and people use it. Files persist. A display can be watched. There's no `stop_computer`: turning the machine off would strand everyone else's work.

That's the opposite of a **per-agent laptop** (each bot gets an isolated VM that looks like a personal computer) and the opposite of **computer-use as a tool call** with no disk behind it.

Chatticus summons the computer when a turn first needs it. A bot can answer while the machine is still booting. Readiness is per-capability. Holding the whole agent loop behind "computer ready" is the wrong picture.

## Why share it

Households and small teams already share a shop computer. Specialists walk up to it. The alternative — a VM per bot — recreates the swarm: many machines, weak common sense of "what we already did."

Sharing also forces the product to be an [agent workplace](/wiki/agent-workplace), not a coding session. A session can discard the disk. A workplace can't.

Neighboring ideas: [named teammates](/wiki/named-teammates) sit at the computer; [farms and desks](/wiki/farms-and-desks) describe how the roster uses it; [always-on](/wiki/always-on) is what happens when the computer is *not* the point and the agent simply waits.

## Related posts

- [Why we started](/updates/why-we-started/)
- [The workplace is the product](/updates/the-workplace/)
- [Nothing bills while nobody is working](/updates/nothing-bills/)
- [A wiki that couldn't say no](/agent-zoo/wiki-that-couldnt-say-no/)