Hi Edgar--
Sorry by the late answer, but only now have time to this.
...
I have plenty of confidence in Spoon, but life is short and fragile as we learn the hard way.
It certainly is! We are all extremely fortunate to be here; every moment is precious. From grief I draw strength to honor those no longer with us, by living as fully as I can, in community with others.
Like you, and all of us, I give time as I am able, and I'm grateful for the time that others spend with me. I've been working with others on Spoon, and I encourage everyone who has time to give to participate.
In the time we wait for a Perfect Solution, we could have a Good Solution
I agree what's happening now is good. I envision something better, I've gotten much of the way there with the help of many, and perfection is not a goal.
While I do have a desired design in mind, I don't think perfection is necessary, or even a healthy pursuit. My design came from a large amount of first-hand experience, reflection on practical tradeoffs, and discussions with actual and potential users. Regardless, one need not wait: I would love to see more Spoon issues recorded on Mantis, more use cases discussed on #squeak and #spoon on IRC, more comments on Spoon-related blog postings, etc.
For the entire time I've been working with Smalltalk, I've viewed anything which clarifies the structural boundaries between bodies of code as a good thing. That includes every module system and shrinking approach applied to every Smalltalk system I've used. We can use the knowledge gained from each of them to make every one of them better.
In the case of Squeak, I would like to use what we've learned from SqueakMap, Universes, and other artifacts from Squeak 1 through 4 to compose modules with Naiad, Spoon's module system. I maintain my intention to coordinate the creation of Squeak 5 this way. I like what's happening in Squeak 4 in the meantime.
thanks again,
-C
-- Craig Latta www.netjam.org/resume +31 6 2757 7177 (SMS ok) + 1 415 287 3547 (no SMS)