[Vm-dev] Embeddable/scalable Smalltalk VM needs funding for release (repost/update from squeak-dev)

[Zak Fenton]

Sorry, I got threads in wrong order here (I'm not so used to mailing lists). This response is for Ben. My wonderful email client isn't letting me quote properly either.


Yes, whole system fits in <1MB. It's roughly 270KB for the complete core system (100KB VM, 170KB image) and about 700KB with all of the extensions and libraries.


My images are still much bigger than they need to be. I haven't tried an absolute minimal one without the compiler and such - but the higher-level stuff (GUI, threading, other extension-specific things) is all optional.


As for the problem of marketing a Smalltalk VM (chicken and egg, Smalltalk being a niche), well, I have a very simple solution: Sell it as something else (a game design tool, for example). I do want to sell a generic "SDK" product as well, and this will look more like Smalltalk, but the "app store" versions will probably be more like PICO-8, i.e. "fun" and "beginner-friendly" development tools (not language-focused).


(There will be versions with source code as well. My current plan is probably to release "stable" versions with full source, but keep new features closed-source until they make it into a stable release. This should solve a few issues and result in a healthy balance.)


I was initially going to target it at existing Lua users (it's very easy to implement Lua in Smalltalk, of course), but they were too confused about persistence actually working, so I figured having a GUI toolkit and threading libraries built-in would be too much for them :). Turning the product into a kind-of "premium Lua" might still be an option though.


You're probably right about needing a demo release to attract more interest. Good news is, I should have an update very shortly about funding, I just don't want to jinx it :).


I'm in Canberra. Was hoping to visit WA this year actually but didn't end up happening.


________________________________
From: Zak Fenton
Sent: Saturday, 20 May 2017 11:23:06 AM
To: Squeak Virtual Machine Development Discussion
Subject: Re: [Vm-dev] Embeddable/scalable Smalltalk VM needs funding for release (repost/update from squeak-dev)


Hi Askoh. I did have some in-depth discussions with another engineer from one of these lists (I think that was in a private thread though), and I can answer any specific questions you may have (e.g. about the threading model or interpreter core), but I guess you'll have to wait for the public alpha to know for sure if I'm telling the truth or not :).


It isn't a very hard-to-believe product when you see it in action. It's just the combination of features that makes it potentially powerful, it doesn't really introduce any new magic.

________________________________
From: Vm-dev <vm-dev-bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org> on behalf of askoh <askoh at askoh.com>
Sent: Friday, 19 May 2017 11:19:15 PM
To: vm-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org
Subject: Re: [Vm-dev] Embeddable/scalable Smalltalk VM needs funding for release (repost/update from squeak-dev)


Has any VM expert checked out this claim? Please comment.

Thanks,
Aik-Siong Koh



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