Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to use a VM (motivation being to run Linux on my locked-down corporate-imaged Macbook) and it was usable, but not as fast it could be if it had free reign over all CPU/RAM. But, at least the way I was doing it, it's not adding any security as discussed here, since you're doing everything in the VM so anything in the VM has access to everything just as if everything on the host anyway.
Scripts I run have access to my development environment for a free software project I already keep in a public repo. What they don't have access to is my actual desktop, nor yesterday's snapshot of the VM desktop. It's obviously not as fast as running GNU on bare metal, but it's fast enough for text work.
I guess this is where we set the bar in 2019.