Continuing with my analogy some responses (see below) point out that Squeak
can thrive in lots of different climates (OSes and hardware). If 90% (or
maybe 80% as John Hinsely argued though I'm not sure that server numbers
matter for the vision of Squeak as a metamedium) of the islands are all
tropical then Squeak may thrive if the world climate cools. Or if another
meteor hits the Earth.

John Hinsley wrote:
> I think, given that we can't fortel the future, that the fact that
> Squeak runs on a multitude of OSs is actually a safer option although I
> look forward to a future when a secure, multi-tasking, Squeak as OS
> evolves!

And Bruce ONeel wrote:
> I think that Squeak is in fact lower risk then the other choices.
> Squeak (pretty much) runs on what ever hardware you bring
> to the party.  All  of the source is available and not a whole
> lot of it is system specific.  What is system specific has been
> ported to enough different systems and runs well on those systems
> such that one is less likely to find some bizzaro system where the
> port is hard.
> In addition there are few single points of failure in the
> Squeak community.  Yes, it would be a huge loss if tomorrow
> morning all of Squeak Central woke up and decided the the One
> True Way was FORTRAN 66 or so, but at 1000+ members I'm sure that
> Squeak would continue to evolve, just not as quickly and with
> less direction.  The loss of the mailing list or one of the web sites
> would hurt as well, but, they could be picked up as well.
>
> Anyway, this is a too long way of saying that I suspect Squeak
> will continue on as long as a self formin group wants it to.
>

My post wasn't about whether Squeak can survive or even thrive as a
community of 1000+ members but whether it can take over the planet like
mammals starting doing 65 million years ago.

Frank Lesser wrote:

>Our idea was to enable Native-Windows Programming for Squeak.

While John Hinsley wrote:

> If you like, it
> exists on populated islands (Windows/Mac/Linux and so on) but imports
> its own microclimate and flora and fauna (that is, it doesn't tie itself
> to OS font support, printer support, etc).

This to me is the crux of the issue. How much do you build yourself (i.e.
bulldoze the island and rebuild it the way you want it) and how much do you
build upon what is already there?

It is true that when you run Squeak on Windows that Windows is still there.
But from the point of view of both the Squeak programmer and someone running
Squeak programs it as if you are in another world with only a very few
exceptions like the file system. The alternative approach is to use what is
there - e.g. the font support, the printer support, the sound and video card
support, etc. Squeak imports a microclimate and flora and fauna that is like
erecting a bubble that isolates you from the local ecology.

Best,

-ken kahn ( www.toontalk.com )