Did you review the discussion from back then?  The problem with this
proposal was it doesn't go far enough.  IIRC, by not having a clear
picture how we would support multiple Author's, the change ends up
being little more than an API change for accessing the global author;
a "place to put some methods"; rather than integrating a first-class
Author into the system object model.

If we are going to rob the global namespace of such a prominent class
name like "Author" from all external domains (or else force them to
use Environments?), then we cannot half-ass it.  We are not going to
trade "Author" for just a global-slot holder.  It needs to become an
integral part of the system's object model.

On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 3:58 PM, Frank Shearar <frank.shearar at gmail.com> wrote:
> I would love to see this resuscitated!
>
> frank
>
> On 15 September 2012 17:33, Chris Muller <asqueaker at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Ok.
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 11:06 PM, Levente Uzonyi <leves at elte.hu> wrote:
>>> Two things about the implementation:
>>> - using #isOctetCharacter is not good enough. When I wrote ascii, I meant
>>> the 7-bit US-ASCII characters. For example $á is both #isOctetCharacter and
>>> #isAlphaNumeric, but I don't think it should appear in a method's timestamp.
>>> - some methods have Smalltalk123 as author
>>>
>>>
>>> Levente
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, 14 Sep 2012, commits at source.squeak.org wrote:
>>>
>>>> A new version of System was added to project The Inbox:
>>>> http://source.squeak.org/inbox/System-cmm.497.mcz
>>>>
>>>> ==================== Summary ====================
>>>>
>>>> Name: System-cmm.497
>>>> Author: cmm
>>>> Time: 14 September 2012, 3:14:45.552 pm
>>>> UUID: d55d42e9-1782-4cdd-a0d0-253bf60940f5
>>>> Ancestors: System-ul.496
>>>>
>>>> Updates for the Author proposal:
>>>>
>>>>         - Completely separate the model from the UI.  Author should be a
>>>> "pure domain object."  The PerSe methods are no longer needed.
>>>>
>>>>         - Instead, let Utilities class take responsibility for employing
>>>> Squeak UI-elements to set the current Author attributes, as well as for
>>>> being the "convenient" way to access these attributes.
>>>>
>>>>         - Since we are reifying an Author from a String, it is now treated
>>>> as a whole Author object, rather than just a String-holder.  Allow multiple
>>>> Author instances to exist and the #current Author can be swapped out with
>>>> another Author instance.
>>>>
>>>> =============== Diff against System-ul.496 ===============
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>changeStamp (in category 'convenience')
>>>> -----
>>>> - changeStamp
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self current changeStamp!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>changeStampPerSe (in category 'convenience')
>>>> -----
>>>> - changeStampPerSe
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self current changeStampPerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author class>>current (in category 'instance creation')
>>>> -----
>>>>  current
>>>> +       ^ instance ifNil:
>>>> +               [ self current: self new.
>>>> +               instance ]!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^instance ifNil: [ instance := super new ]!
>>>>
>>>> Item was added:
>>>> + ----- Method: Author class>>current: (in category 'class
>>>> initialization') -----
>>>> + current: anAuthor
>>>> +       instance := anAuthor!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author class>>fullNamePerSe (in category 'pharo
>>>> compatibility') -----
>>>>  fullNamePerSe
>>>> +       ^ self current initials!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self initialsPerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>initials (in category 'convenience') -----
>>>> - initials
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self current initials!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>initialsPerSe (in category 'convenience')
>>>> -----
>>>> - initialsPerSe
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self current initialsPerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>new (in category 'instance creation') -----
>>>> - new
>>>> -
>>>> -       self error: 'Use #current'!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author class>>reset (in category 'instance creation') -----
>>>>  reset
>>>> +       self current: nil!
>>>> -
>>>> -       instance := nil!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author class>>useAuthor:during: (in category 'pharo
>>>> compatibility') -----
>>>> + useAuthor: aString during: aBlock
>>>> +       ^ self current
>>>> +               useInitials: aString
>>>> +               during: aBlock!
>>>> - useAuthor: aString during: aBlock
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self useInitials: aString during: aBlock!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>useInitials:during: (in category
>>>> 'convenience') -----
>>>> - useInitials: aString during: aBlock
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self current useInitials: aString during: aBlock!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>username (in category 'convenience') -----
>>>> - username
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self current username!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author class>>usernamePerSe (in category 'convenience')
>>>> -----
>>>> - usernamePerSe
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self current usernamePerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author>>changeStamp (in category 'accessing') -----
>>>>  changeStamp
>>>> +       ^ self changeStampWithInitials: (self initials ifEmpty: [
>>>> 'unknown' ])!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self changeStampWithInitials: self initials!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author>>changeStampPerSe (in category 'accessing') -----
>>>> - changeStampPerSe
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self changeStampWithInitials: (self initialsPerSe ifEmpty: [ '.'
>>>> ])!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author>>fullName (in category 'pharo compatibility') -----
>>>>  fullName
>>>> +       ^ self initials!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self initials!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author>>fullNamePerSe (in category 'pharo compatibility')
>>>> -----
>>>> - fullNamePerSe
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^self initialsPerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author>>initialize (in category 'initialize-release') -----
>>>>  initialize
>>>> -
>>>>         super initialize.
>>>> +       initials := username := String empty!
>>>> -       initials := String new.
>>>> -       username := String new
>>>> -       !
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author>>initials (in category 'accessing') -----
>>>>  initials
>>>> +       ^ initials!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^initials ifEmpty: [ self requestAndSetInitials ]!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author>>initialsPerSe (in category 'accessing') -----
>>>> - initialsPerSe
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^initials!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author>>requestAndSetInitials (in category 'accessing')
>>>> -----
>>>> - requestAndSetInitials
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^initials := (UIManager default
>>>> -               request: 'Please type your initials: ' translated
>>>> -               initialAnswer: initials) select: [ :each |
>>>> -                       #(
>>>> -                               ($A $Z)
>>>> -                               ($a $z)
>>>> -                               ($0 $9)) anySatisfy: [ :range |
>>>> -                                       each between: range first and:
>>>> range second ] ]!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author>>requestAndSetUsername (in category 'accessing')
>>>> -----
>>>> - requestAndSetUsername
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^username := UIManager default
>>>> -               request: 'Please type your name:' translated
>>>> -               initialAnswer: (username
>>>> -                       ifEmpty: [ 'Your Name' translated ]
>>>> -                       ifNotEmpty: [ username ])!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Author>>username (in category 'accessing') -----
>>>>  username
>>>> +       ^ username!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^username ifEmpty: [ self requestAndSetUsername ]!
>>>>
>>>> Item was removed:
>>>> - ----- Method: Author>>usernamePerSe (in category 'accessing') -----
>>>> - usernamePerSe
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^username!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: SpaceTally>>spaceTally: (in category 'class analysis')
>>>> -----
>>>> + spaceTally: classes
>>>> - spaceTally: classes
>>>>         "Answer a collection of SpaceTallyItems representing the memory
>>>> space (in bytes) consumed       by the code and instances of each class in
>>>> the system. Note that code sizes do not currently    report memory consumed
>>>> by class variables. "
>>>> -
>>>>         "((SpaceTally new spaceTally: (Array with: TextMorph with: Point))
>>>> asSortedCollection: [:a :b | a spaceForInstances > b spaceForInstances])
>>>> asArray"
>>>> -
>>>>         self preAllocateResultsFor: classes.
>>>>         Smalltalk garbageCollect.
>>>>         self computeSpaceUsage.
>>>>         ^ results
>>>> +                sort: [ : a : b | a spaceForInstances > b
>>>> spaceForInstances ] ;
>>>> +                yourself!
>>>> - !
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>authorInitials (in category
>>>> 'identification') -----
>>>>  authorInitials
>>>> +       "Answer the initials to be used to identify the current code
>>>> author."
>>>> +       ^ self authorInitialsPerSe ifEmpty:
>>>> +               [ self
>>>> +                        setAuthorInitials ;
>>>> +                        authorInitialsPerSe ]!
>>>> -       "Answer the initials to be used to identify the current code
>>>> author.  "
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^Author initials!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>authorInitialsPerSe (in category
>>>> 'identification') -----
>>>>  authorInitialsPerSe
>>>> +       ^ Author current initials!
>>>> -       "Answer the currently-prevailing author initials, such as they,
>>>> empty or not"
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^Author initialsPerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>authorName (in category 'identification')
>>>> -----
>>>>  authorName
>>>> +       ^ self authorNamePerSe ifEmpty:
>>>> +               [ self
>>>> +                        setAuthorName ;
>>>> +                        authorNamePerSe ]!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^Author username!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>authorNamePerSe (in category
>>>> 'identification') -----
>>>>  authorNamePerSe
>>>> +       ^ Author current username!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^Author usernamePerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>changeStamp (in category 'identification')
>>>> -----
>>>> + changeStamp
>>>> +       ^ Author current changeStampWithInitials: self authorInitials!
>>>> - changeStamp
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^Author changeStamp!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>changeStampPerSe (in category
>>>> 'identification') -----
>>>>  changeStampPerSe
>>>> +       ^ Author current changeStamp!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^Author changeStampPerSe!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>setAuthorInitials (in category
>>>> 'identification') -----
>>>>  setAuthorInitials
>>>>         "Put up a dialog allowing the user to specify the author's
>>>> initials.  "
>>>> +       | oldInitials |
>>>> +       oldInitials := Author current initials.
>>>> +       Author reset.
>>>> +       Author current initials:
>>>> +               ((UIManager default
>>>> +                       request: 'Please type your initials: ' translated
>>>> +                       initialAnswer: oldInitials) select: [ : each |
>>>> each isOctetCharacter and: [ each isAlphaNumeric ] ])!
>>>> -
>>>> -       ^Author current requestAndSetInitials!
>>>>
>>>> Item was changed:
>>>>  ----- Method: Utilities class>>setAuthorName (in category
>>>> 'identification') -----
>>>>  setAuthorName
>>>> +       Author current username:
>>>> +               (UIManager default
>>>> +                       request: 'Please type your name:' translated
>>>> +                       initialAnswer: (Author current username ifEmpty: [
>>>> 'Your Name' translated ]))!
>>>> -
>>>> -       Author requestAndSetUsername!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>