Squeak 3.7 released!

Tim Rowledge tim at sumeru.stanford.edu
Tue Sep 21 22:59:44 UTC 2004


"Jason Rogers" <jacaetevha at fast-mail.org> wrote:

> 1. Is this page even up-to-date?  Is the latest stable /really/ 3.5?  Do  
> we not consider 3.7 as stable?
> 
> 2. I don't think it's a very user-friendly layout.  It seems like a layout  
> for us geeks, not the average Joe Schmoe who will be working with e-Toys.
> 
I have to agree with Jason here; it's a fine page for already
knowledgable users wanting to find the source tree or a latest
re-release VM but it is very intimidating to anyone new. This is bad
since it can put people off even trying - I know I've been put off
making the effort of trying some linux package because of convoluted
fetch/install instructions.

I started hacking about the original page but my editor really isn't
helping me much so it's a slow process and I have much else to do. My
recommendations would be along the lines of:-

Keep It REALLY Simple

Explain that you need four files and that occasionally a helpful download
program is too helpful and causes <blah> error, so see here. Name the four files
for future reference (executable is known as virtual machine or VM or
even object engine; image file is big file with all the objects;
sources is lots of source code and changes is sourcecode changed since
version 3.0) so we hopefully have some common vocabulary for later in
the page.

Point to the release packages for the four fully maintained platforms
(windows, mac, unix, RISC OS) which should ideally be a single
zip/tar/whatever with everything nicely packaged for trivial
installation. At worst it should be a separate page with explicit
instructions.

For any other active platforms with ready to go packages just add them
to the list. Less supported platforms (anyone done anything on BeOS or
DOS in a while?) ought to be relegated to an 'old releases page'.

And that should be that. Long explanations should be put on separate
pages. Installation instructions should be in the package.


Oh, to heck with it: here's a quick attempt of the content for anyone
with a good html editor to fool with.

=================================
<p>To run Squeak you will need to download four files. For the main
actively supported platforms you will find them in one of the packages
listed below. The four files are:-
<ol>

<li> The executable suited to your platform. Known more commonly as the 
<em>Squeak virtual machine</em>, the  VM or occasionally the Object
Engine, it will be named and packaged in a manner appropriate to the
platform.

<li> The <em>Squeak image</em>, the file containing all the objects.
This is completely portable between platforms without any alterations
and will normally be named something similar to 'Squeak3.7-5989.image'

<li> The <em>Squeak sources</em> - the source code for all the methods
in the system at the last major release, in this case version 3.0

<li> A matching <em>changes file</em>, which contains the source code
for changes made since the last release of the sources file.

</ol>

<p>Just occasionally downloading goes wrong and the format of some of
the files is broken. Most often this has been due to <that damn mac
decompressor I can't think of> converting line-end characters. <Add
pointer to page for fix>

<h3>Download Packages</h3>
<p>These are the four regularly maintained platforms.
<ul>
<li><a href="">Mac OS 9.x</a>
<li><a href="">Mac OS/X</a>
<li><a href="">Windows</a>
<li><a href="">Unix, linux, hpux etc</a>
<li><a href="">RISC OS</a>
</ul>
<p>Less frequently updated platforms with downloadable packages
<ul>
<li>PocketPC
<li>BeOS
<li>AmigaOS
<li>PlayStation
<li>Burroughs B5000
<li>Babbage Machine
</ul>
<p>If you need to find an updated image or the VM sources take a look
at the <a href="">Expert Dowloaders Page</a>
==============================================


tim
--
Tim Rowledge, tim at sumeru.stanford.edu, http://sumeru.stanford.edu/tim
Strange OpCodes: SDL: Shift Disk Left



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