On Sun, Jul 05, 2009 at 08:19:13PM -0700, Andreas Raab wrote:
> 
> * Minimalism.
> * Tools.
> * Education.
> 
   ... 
> 
> Since this is supposed to the the starting point for a strategy 
> discussion, what do people think about the above areas of interest? I'm 
> in particular interested in whether you think you could identify with 
> the three pillars of Squeak since if we can agree on those as the most 
> important values that we *all* share, it seems that there are obvious 
> practical consequences that we can draw from it.

Yes, these three capture the fundamentals nicely. I am inclined also to
think of "Accessibility" in the sense of an entire system that is visible,
browsable, and changeable from top to bottom. Squeak is different from
other open systems because an individual person can really lay hands on
it, learn from it, and experiment to his or her heart's desire. I think
you have captured that theme nicely under the "Education" pillar, but
I wonder if it may be worth a pillar of its own. On the other hand,
explaining this under the theme of Squeak as an educational system helps
to articulate why the education pillar is important to all of us, not just
to young children.

> I think that formulating and agreeing on our values as a community is a 
> central part of setting our own direction. It gives us something to look 
> back to when we don't know what to do next, it gives us something to 
> agree on when we disagree.

Nicely said.

Dave