[Release] Fork Proposal: Cuis & Killer Apps.

[Ken G. Brown]

This list appears to have fallen out of favor and does not have much activity lately, perhaps you might consider posting to squeak-dev instead.

   Ken G. Brown

At 8:43 AM -0700 9/5/11, Overcomer Man apparently wrote:
>I suggest a new fork or possibly a new orientation for the next Squeak release:
>Adopt Cuis as the core image and focus on killer applications to attract new Smalltalk users.
>Thousands of downloads are recorded on CNet for simple apps like a voice recorder.
>They could all be using and learning Smalltalk.  Same for many other applications. 
>That would help make Smalltalk popular again.
> 
>Recently I found Squeak / Cuis contains many Sound classes.  So I wrote up an email suggesting it to a community college teacher friend who had asked for a sound recorder.  Imagine my embarrassment when I found the files Squeak supports doesn't include .mp3. 
> 
>Squeak has so much unfinished half starts at programs, why not adopt Juan's work to flush the unnecessary, then get started on building a serious applications team to build truly useful free code. 
> 
>Another example, Roxio is a million dollar software company making a video recorder app. which is not as good as an ordinary VCR and not supported (they have a staff but try getting any real help).  Squeak could be capturing a slice of that market and enticing users to learn Smalltalk!  And source code can substitute for most support. 
> 
>Another example, Solid Works is a 3D object drafting program that is simple and gets many thousands of users away from AutoDesk.  Can Smalltalk deliver most or all of that function with a FFI to openGL and some programming?  Certianly!
> 
>Finally, the one complaint I've heard on the job about Smalltalk is it's slow.  I recently added several thousand classes and find simply clicking on the class in a browser is now slow to respond.  When end-users, not programmers, can type at 80 words a minute and more in a C app. or they can be limited to 30 wpm or less in a Smalltalk app. they demand C.  The new VM was a good improvement, now try to solve the speed issues in the image.
> 
>Thanks,
>Kirk Fraser
>
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