Ralph Johnson wrote:

> did Squeak get so big?  What forces cause people who love minimalism
> to make a bloated image?  At least one of these forces is the demand
> for immediate usefulness.  It is easier to throw stuff in the image
> than to modularize the system.  But I think that the forces opposing
> minimalism are probably complex and powerful.  If we don't understand
> them, we are unlikely to defeat them.

I think the main problem historically was the (non)availability of a 
source management system that supported packages.
In its absence there was no self/natural enforcement of modularization 
leading i.e. to etoys and morphic being woven through every aspect of 
the image.
Thus creating the tremendous forces opposing minimalism plus the self 
fulfilling prophecy of "if it's out of the core it won't be maintained".

Just MTC

Michael