A suggestion (was: SqueakOS)

David T. Lewis squeak-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org
Sat Oct 5 15:11:05 UTC 2002


On Fri, Oct 04, 2002 at 09:30:55AM -0700, Tim Rowledge wrote:
> Luciano Notarfrancesco <lnotarfrancesco at yahoo.com> is claimed by the authorities to have written:
> 
> > We've implemented all the drivers in Squeak.

<snip> 

> You bloomin' heroes. I am aghast. I am stunned. I wrote a serial port
> driver in the old Acorn port of BrouHaHa Smalltalk many years ago that
> could handle 9600 baud ok, but you folks have really gone crazy.

<snip> 

> I wish there were some way of getting you
> somemoney to help with this - you guys down there need it even more than
> I do, and I'm having to sell a house to keep eating.

I believe that there are efforts under way to set up non-profit
organizations (Squeak Foundation, and a complimentary effort in Europe)
to support worthy Squeak projects. Assuming that an organization
is willing and legally able to accept substantial charitable donations
from philanthropic persons or organizations, and can supply such a
donation to a group of people working on a well defined project such
as the one in Argentina, then:

1) Set up a Swiki page to publicize projects which are available to
receive funding. Only a few projects should be identified (including
this one), and each project should have an explanation of its objectives,
its anticipated outcome, and an explanation of why the world could be a
better place when the project meets its objectives. Construct the page
in such a way that Google is likely to find it easily.

2) Spread the word. Somebody somewhere is waiting right now to donate
large sums of money to projects which will make the world a better
place, as long as the projects are aligned with the objectives or
interests of the potential donor.

3) When the donor emerges, work through the non-profit organization
(Squeak Foundation or whatever) to connect donor to the project,
provide routing of the funding to the project participants, and provide
accountability for the project activities and results back to the donor.

Luciano Notarfrancesco's project seems like a particularly good fit for
this. The project is (or can be) well defined. The project participants
are highly reputable and have a good chance of achieving the project
goals. A successful outcome would make the world a better place in a
number of interesting ways. And it's pretty cool, so it might be quite
appealing to certain kinds of donors.

Dave




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