  Excess freedom in how computers are used creates problems that include: bit
rot, problems with big data, problems in the creation and debugging of
software, and problems with cyber security. To tame excess freedom, "tough
love" is needed in the form of a {\em universal framework for the
representation and processing of diverse kinds of knowledge} (UFK). The "SP
machine", based on the "SP theory of intelligence", has the potential to
provide that framework and to help solve the problems above. There is potential
to reduce the near-4000 different kinds of computer file to one, and to reduce
the hundreds of different computer languages to one.
