> The point I wanted to make was that there is no need for there to be a
> separate install image or VM -- with partial image chunks the > minimal image
> can simply grow to include whatever bits are needed as you > use it! Same for
> the VM with everything pluginised; if you try to open a net > connection, the
> partial image with net-stuff gets loaded and when a net > primitive is called
> the plugin module is loaded. If you don't use the net, it never gets
> loaded. The user will never know it wasn't there....

I may be missing things here, but between a single (relatively tiny) executable VM file and a plurality of plugins and a slightly tinier executable VM, I prefer the former.  Indeed, once we have the VM pluginized in this manner, we suddenly have to start worrying about an installshield for the VM.  Right now, you can download the VM with a painless and non-error-prone FTP.  Likewise an image file.

I agree that the pluginized VM has big advantages, particularly for tiny machines.  I just don't think that facilitating installation is one of them.

As to whether there is any complexity of having two images (the installSqueak image and the "regular" image), this will be transparent to the user -- the installSqueak can destroy itself once it has unwravelled its payload (including the "regular image"), or not, as best suits our taste.  The other thing is that we probably don't care under what version the installSqueak image was built, so long as it runs under the new VM -- so its probably a one-time construction.