Good people -

Whatever the impetus, it's good to see this recent spate of self-examination.

When I look back on the early days, we had a cycle where we would use 
the old system for all it was worth (even with ugly hacks), exploring 
some current set of initiatives, and *then* we would fall back to 
clean things up and integrate what we learned in the latest push.

Maybe that's what's happening now, but I feel the absence of some of 
those big challenges that motivate and reward real progress (not to 
make little of the current efforts).  These could include...

	Take advantage of multicore processors and associated
	multi-thread OS's in our VM design(s).

	Demonstrate real ease of use in tapping that new
	dimension of performance.  Linda and E are relevant.

	Press at least one good JIT design through to completion
	document it, and keep it alive on every platform.

	Make it easy to produce Squeak apps for the iPhone
	and similar platforms for which it seems so perfect.

	Bring Squeak to life in browsers.
	OMeta + V8 + Canvas = Squeak everywhere, including
	behind firewalls and where installation is prohibited

	Get serious about security.  Take another look at ESqueak
	and figure how to make it just a bit simpler

	Along the same lines, make it easy for Squeak to rule
	the cloud.

Each of these has high potential impact, and it would be nice to have 
made some real progress in one or two areas before doing a major 
merge or rewrite.  What if you decide to eliminate shared globals; 
wouldn't this be a great time to include that rewrite?  What if 
shared variables turn out to be a great way to synchronize multiple 
threads in the VM;  wouldn't this be a good time to fold that in? 
Etc.

So this may be the time to reorganize everything, but it also looks 
to me like there is nothing in the way of making some *bold* progress 
right now, and it's likely that the wider perspective achieved in the 
process might inform an even better next system.

That said, don't forget there are good and committed people on both 
sides of this discussion, and your first priority should be how to 
maximize the community.  FWIW I recommend face-to-face discussion. 
And beer.

	- Dan