[Vm-dev] Unity Happens One Step at a Time (was Re: [squeak-dev] Porting my programs from Squeak 3.10.2 to 3.5)

[Sean DeNigris]

I've been pontificating about unity between dialects, convinced more than ever that we need each other and have more of a simple (not easy) communication problem than anything else, and pestering the principals of various communities, so I decided to put some concrete action behind it - some "skin in the game" as we say in the U.S.

After reading Trygve's frustration with Squeak image/VM management, and Eliot's mention of Pharo's solution, I've extended PharoLauncher to manage and run Squeak (and GToolkit) VMs/images. 

The current limitation vs. launching standard Pharo images is that you have to download the VMs and images and manually install them due to differences in URL and other conventions. However once the files are in place, you can create templates allowing images to be created at will from different Squeak versions and automatically run with the correct VM. Auto-installation could probably be done if someone cares enough but it scratched my itch for the moment to manage GT images. I’m sure Cuis support could be added, but the hooks are now available and someone more familiar with its VM/image installation might have an easier time.

Until my latest PR [1] is merged, brave souls can play with it and give feedback by loading my issue branch [2] into the latest Launcher release [3]. NB only tested on Mac.

It seemed Trygve was at his wits' end, but maybe this and other small gestures will let him know how important he is to our community if not motivate him to resume his important work.

I challenge you, as a member of our wider Squeak/Pharo/Cuis family: what small action can you take today that unites us rather than divides us? We can be each others' supporters even if technical, vision and other differences keep our codebases somewhat distinct. I believe the seeds of wars are planted when I lack the grace to give those around me the benefit of the doubt that they mean well and are trying their best. There is more than enough of that already in the world. Let’s invent a *better* future…

Your brother,
Sean

1. https://github.com/pharo-project/pharo-launcher/pull/503
2. https://github.com/seandenigris/pharo-launcher/tree/enh_vm-image-custom-hooks
3. https://pharo.org/download