We've had a solution to this for a long time in various programs - let the user tell the application how much they know. By default, settings are extremely limited, but you can change settings to "advanced" or "expert", and more options/settings become available.
There is no reason this couldn't work for permissions as well; beginners get the system locked down pretty well, whereas advanced users get a more open system they can do more with, at the expense of potential foot-guns)
(As a side note, we could probably make a plane that had this principle applied as well. With autopilot where it is today, we could easily make a commercial plane that grandma could fly under most circumstances - you just need that real pilot and extra controls for when things go wrong.)
The reason this doesn't work for the OS is that applications invariably ask the user to set settings to "expert" and toggle this and that in order to take full advantage of features.
So I still think the solution is something like iOS or Android. I can not think of anything a non-CS person needs to do that can't be done on those platforms.
Install an app. For apple you need to try test flight to find out too many people use the app so you need to be able to install in developer mode.
I can understand the argument that you should have some technical competency to evaluate that these programs are safe to install, but neither accounts for a technically competent friend/family member suggesting/helping you install an app. Apple requires expertise to even keep an app that doesn't pay to be on the app store installed longer than a week.
There is no reason this couldn't work for permissions as well; beginners get the system locked down pretty well, whereas advanced users get a more open system they can do more with, at the expense of potential foot-guns)
(As a side note, we could probably make a plane that had this principle applied as well. With autopilot where it is today, we could easily make a commercial plane that grandma could fly under most circumstances - you just need that real pilot and extra controls for when things go wrong.)