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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Most companies using VSE have developed &
enhanced their frameworks over the time since VSE was declared moribund.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>To move such an application which is in most cases a
Windows GUI based application requiring deep OS-Integration to a different
Smalltalk dialect is technically very difficult.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The alternative to get a VSE-application updated
would be to obtain a license for our LSW Virtual-Machine. We do not license our
LSW Vision-Smalltalk. LSWVST is running on our latest VM but the efforts migrating
a complex Windows-Smalltalk application to an entirely different Smalltalk framework
is not feasible & we want to concentrate as a small company on developing &
marinating our VM.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Running a VSE application on our VM requires very few
changes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>To be legally save you need be a VSE licensee.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I don’t think that it makes sense for Cincom to
try to stop VSE-customers to use a different VM for existing VSE-applications.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Actually our VM helps Cincom to sell VSE-licenses. Cincom
is a huge company & while some managers can try to tell their customers
some things – I see that - for me relevant people at Cincom do the right
thing mentioning our product in public & as a side effect promoting it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>While I personally disliked the idea to open-source
VSE or any other commercial Smalltalk, I also see the drive of companies
demanding it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Companies have obtained the VSE-VM source in the past
& where only able to do marginal changes as to correct small bugs &
extending the FFI.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I doubt that VM-developers (except one I know) in
those companies are able to develop it further (e.g. produce a 64-bit version
or move to a different platform or processor architecture).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Also patching & reverse-engineering VSE is the
poor-companies way & is IMO also irrelevant for Cincom because they could
not expect any business from those people.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>People who are posting VM-bugs (hoping that VSE
hackers provide free patches) and at the same time complaining ijn public that
Cincom do not provide them with a corrected VM are probably not paying Cincom for
it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>There are free alternatives if Windows GUI
integration isn’t required – for Squeak & its friends exists
now a more powerful faster VM - the COG-VM.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>And IMO it is a sane state for the
Smalltalk-community in the whole that commercial & free alternatives exist.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Alejandro F. Reimondo – a well known
Smalltalk-specialist (especially in the VSE area) has joined us a few years ago
- & is helping companies to prepare their products to run on our VM.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The VSE-VM has not being developed since a decade –
we have developed our VM since more than a decade and are actively developing it
not only to run Smalltalk dialects.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>So companies which want to obtain a license for using
our VM are invited to contact us. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Frank Lesser, Lesser-Software<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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