On Mon, Jul 04, 2005 at 04:58:26PM +0200, Franz Josef Konrad wrote:
I don't see Squeak as a competitor to the commercial Smalltalk systems. I want to see low barriers for people to use Smalltalk doing business. And with a free product like Squeak you have an attractive choice.
If it is possible to grow the the number of people who use Squeak it will IMO automatically raise the number of people who will use a commercial Smalltalk systems. If you believe this isn't possible then of course you will have a cannibalism effect that Squeak takes market share from the commercial systems. But perhaps I'm too optimistic?!
100% agree. And I like Alan Knight's analogy of rowing a lifeboat :)
Dave, so would you argue not to use Squeak for business projects? Using a commercial Smalltalk system instead?
I depends on the customer of course. My background is in the automotive industry, where a commercial product would be preferred. As for myself, I use Squeak for fun and as a wonderful personal analytical tool. But I agree with your points.
Dave