> So that'd be 'file system support' and 'ship it' understood as in a
> run-of-the-mill Linux distribution, say Debian.

Yup. Because that's what you get if you ask some average person the question
"what is (in) Linux". Most people won't say that it's a "platform which can
be everything you want it to be". Most people will answer "it's an operating
system".

> Anyway, I'm not sure whether these arguments are of any use here. A
> question, Andreas - are you just unhappy with the 
> 'appropriation' of the name 'Squeak' for anything not
> Squeak-the-multimedia-thingy or do you generally feel
> unhappy about the whole 'hack it up in small bits'
> project?

What I feel _really_ unhappy about is the complete absence of any vision
(and action) which goes beyound "hack it up in small bits". I've never heard
anything beyound modularity, unloading packages, refactoring, rewriting bla
bla bla over the last year or so. Yes, all of these are important aspects
but they are not the ONLY important things. Over the last year or so, not a
single thought has been spent on the issue of "what would make Squeak a
better overall environment" to which I obviously count stuff like
multi-lingualization, better font support, networking and many others. I
want you to think _large_ scale here not to focus on one specific aspect
exclusively, because in the long term this hurts the "platform" (regardless
of what it is used for).

That's what I mean by "strategic" all along. I am not saying that any of the
current efforts are wrong. What is wrong, what is really bugging me is the
EXCLUSIVE focus on these issues. And if the guides feel that this is not
their responsibility then maybe it's time to consider their position to be
somewhere along the lines of "making strategic decisions happen" rather than
actually making these decisions. After all, this is what their agenda claims
they do anyways - except that in practice the strategic decisions are made
in the worst possible way, by simply ignoring anything that's not in the
narrow focus.

Cheers,
  - Andreas