Hi Gary,

I don't have any argument with you about the relative quality of 
various GUI's.  My problem with Squeak is that its is _different_ and 
there are some very well established user interface principles about 
similarity, predictability and learning that means that switching 
between <insert your os here> and Squeak just won't do.

(I was recently in the USA for Apple's WWDC.  I am an Aussie, so I 
had to think about some of the most mundane things in order to get on 
with what I wanted to do because so many things were the opposite to 
what I was used to: light switches were 'upside down', sink taps 
turned the 'wrong way' - and I had to be so careful when crossing 
streets because cars drove on the 'wrong side of road'.)

I don't have an argument with the Squeak user interface - I think it 
is really good to have something like this where research can be done 
- I just wish there were something just like Squeak that used <insert 
your os here> as well.

Look at it from a newcomer's point of view: Squeak has a wonderful 
language, a great library (viewable in source too) and an unsurpassed 
development environment, but how are they going to find out about 
those things if they can't get past the idiosyncratically unique user 
interface?

In my opinion, you get more users to Squeak by showing them a better 
way to achieve their goals, not another planet to live on.  (Ok, some 
users will want to live on another planet, and that is fine too).

Karl

>To say that Squeak cannot succeed unless it becomes practically
>indistinguishable from that which it should replace is reminiscent of the
>argument that automobiles could not succeed unless they looked like
>carriages.
>
>Squeak is not just another medium in which to build Windows or Mac
>applications; that's far too limited a viewpoint.  That's why your second
>statement, "On the other hand, when you think about it, isn't Squeak itself
>the 'killer app'?" is so much closer to the mark (and, coincidentally,
>exactly what I was going to say. :-)  The trick, then, is to get the word
>out.  IMHO, at this point Squeak needs evangelists more than developers.

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