(1/?)
A few late night thoughts off the top of my head @tchambers. You've done a great job laying out technical solutions (mostly). Some of these problems may also have social solutions.
For a start, I've already mentioned "service" as a replacement for "instance". The "instance" (of Software A) is what it runs on, but "service" describes what it's there for (hopefully). If it's not there to be of service, maybe it's best newbies don't join?