Tim,

> > any attempt to replace them in Smalltalk would *rightfully* 
> > raise an error
> It doesn't seem to in my latest image; 'Smalltalk at: #TextConstants
> put: Dictionary new' works just fine.

I know. (I said it "would" rightfully raise an error if we make them r/o)

> > I don't see neither a dead-end nor a problem here. Show me 
> > a couple of practical examples of the problems you see (we've
> > got roughly 250 packages on SqueakMap) and if you find more
> > than two let's talk about it again.
> Well, the first one I can think of doesn't simplistically use the
> 'Smalltalk at:#FooDict put: Dictionary new' incantation but it does
> result in the pool being made as a Dictionary and filling it in. You
> probably know of it; it's called Balloon3D.sar :-)

Whoa! Wait a second. The pool is owned by Balloon3D.sar and therefore it is
perfectly okay for that package to define and use the pool in any way it
wants. That's exactly why I want to have the compatibility bridge so that
packages which in fact define and use their own pools can continue to
function.

Cheers,
  - Andreas