[Squeakfoundation]Chaordic Purpose

Paul Fernhout squeakfoundation@lists.cdegroot.com
Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:46:42 -0400


Dave wrote in the thread "Goals"
> Encourage the development, support, distribution and evolution of Squeak
> and Squeak based endeavors wherever it may be os use. Ensure that Squeak
> is available to future generations of researchers and educators.
> Encourage creativity and diversity. Try to reduce unnecessary
> duplication of effort and increased reuse. [nice tension <g>]

Now we are getting somewhere. Some good words in there: "Encourage",
"Evolution", "Future Generations", "Research", "Education",
"Creativity", "Diversity" "Reduce" "Unnecessary" "Increase" "Reuse".
These sound like words that might be in a 'If we could achieve that, my
life would have meaning' level purpose.

Still though, again the question of "why?". 

Why is it of value to encourage the use or evolution of Squeak? 

"Encouraging creativity and diversity" from the above is perhaps part of
the answer.

Does Squeak or the ideas behind it have anything that sets it apart from
say "encouraging the evolution of C++"? And, does the foundation want to
support that larger purpose as Squeak represents it, rather than say
Squeak itself?

What is "Squeak"? That is, what does Squeak represent? 
Why would people want it over say VisualWorks or Delphi?
What do people need or want that Squeak supplies that these other
systems do not? How is it that these other systems perhaps do not
encourage creativity or diversity?

-Paul Fernhout
Kurtz-Fernhout Software 
=========================================================
Developers of custom software and educational simulations
Creators of the Garden with Insight(TM) garden simulator
http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com

Paul Fernhout wrote:
> 
> This thread is intended to discuss the purpose of the Squeak Foundation
> along the lines of the chaordic design process described at:
>   http://www.chaordic.org/what_des.html
> (and which Cees has participated in related to Sun's JINI).