Why Squeak ?

Thierry Thelliez tgt at lanl.gov
Tue Apr 21 00:37:29 UTC 1998


Pardon the intrusion but I have few questions about Squeak's goals.
I am a Smalltalker and I have subscribed to the Squeak distribution list

just after the last OOPSLA. I have already seen few threads about this
particular subject but I am wondering if there are any news.

Probably like in a lot of places, my organization is getting crazy about
Java.
You have to be 'hype-compliant'. And justifiying Smalltalk is certainly
not
an easy task; especially with ObjectShare and GemStone pushing so much
for their Java products. Anyway, stop crying...

I could certainly use Smalltalk/Squeak in my projects if there was a
possibility to do TODAY the equivalent of a Java applet: VM Web-browser
plug-in, Corba,... I am using VRML plug-in and this is accepted by my
customers. Why not a squeak plug-in ? Security issues ?

Am I missing something or is this not the focus of the Squeak community
?

Also, if the Squeak VM technology is ahead of Java. What will stop the
Java people from 'copying' some of your ideas.

I am impressed by the Squeak technical efforts but I don't understand
the
'marketing' directions.


Thierry





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