> At Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:14:43 HST,
> osp at aloha.com wrote:
> > 
> > > Bert Freudenberg a $BqD(Brit :
> > > 
> > > >> The first step in this direction could be a fast bytecode package 
> > > >> loader, without the need to compile Smalltalk code.
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > Indeed. Perhaps you remember the discussions we had about
ImageSegments 
> > > > that loaded classes complete with CompiledMethods? Which is way way 
> > > > faster than compiling code, and could not only be used to load squeak 
> > > > apps on top of a fixed image like for Dr Geo on Etoys, but could also 
> > > > lead to blazingly fast updates, or to very efficient field patches of 
> > > > deployed software. Maybe bringing this idea up in a separate thread
here 
> > > > on squeak-dev would get some developer intrigued - I for one do find 
> > > > this a fascinating project.
> > > 
> > > I have the felling (unobjective) such feature could make life easier to 
> > > third party Etoys developer and eventually attract more of them to Etoys.
> > > 
> > > Hilaire
> > > 
> > 
> > Closed-sourse EToys would violate the concept of the user having access to
> > everything in the system, a cornerstone of Alan Kay's vision.
> 
>   Well, it would violate the concept if it is closed source.
> 
> > "User" does not refer strictly to the person using the computer at
> > that moment. A teacher setting up and running an EToy session
> > qualifies as the "user," and as such should have access to complete
> > source and the right to modify it as they see fit.
> 
>   They do.
> 
> > Educational software as product should not be treated as a for-profit
> > market. All educational software and content should be open-source. The
> > bulk of this work should be pro bono. What renumeration there is should
> > come from grants. The educational system should benefit from free learning
> > materials in the same manner we have benefited from Squeak.
> 
>   I'd think that not all educational software and content should be
> open-source.  But Etoys is.  So, what is your point?

Maybe it is just me, but "a fast bytecode package loader, without the need
to compile Smalltalk code" combined with "such feature could make life
easier to third party Etoys developer and eventually attract more of them
to Etoys" sounds like an endorsement of closed-source commercial EToys. If
commercial success is not the attraction, what is? Faster initial load
time? Reduced file transfer size? Perhaps I assumed too much.

My point is that commercial software, and commercial textbooks, drive up
the cost of education. The success of the open-source software movement
serves as a model for how we ought to be producing educational materials. I
see Squeak at the foundation of that solution.

Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project