Iâm a Smalltalker that is happy when JavaScript and LISP and Phyton and Ruby and Dart gain popularity because it makes my life easier when I have to explain to the next dynamic friendly developer how our workspace, inspector and debugger works and how our library gets navigated so the new guy can fell he can master it by himself easier than other tools (which is a Smalltalk language design intention from day zero, and totally successful at it BTW).
I can understand that some might feel indifferent at Scala or Java popularity but being "a Pharoerâ and hostile, antagonising or actively indifferent to Smalltalk's popularity and branding efforts is a frank strategic parricide <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parricide>
Post by horridoKIRK: Then what is it?
GUARDIAN: *A question.* Since before your sun burned hot in space and before
your race was born, I have awaited a question.
KIRK: What are you?
GUARDIAN: I am the Guardian of Forever.
KIRK: Are you machine or being?
GUARDIAN: I am both and neither. I am my own beginning, my own ending.
-----
Clearly, I need to explain myself in greater detail...
The efforts of organizations such as STIC and ESUG are laudable.
Nevertheless, they have failed to popularize Smalltalk. Today, *Smalltalk is
a largely forgotten language*. This can be seen at the TIOBE index where
Smalltalk has literally fallen off a cliff (it used to be on the top 100
list, but has since disappeared). At Redmonk and langpop.corger.nl,
Smalltalk is somewhere around the 65th position!
Smalltalk does not get much developer attention. It doesn't get talked about
in the press like Dart and JavaScript and Java do. The language is almost
never on the minds of CEOs and CTOs, the business decision makers. I believe
I know why.
Smalltalk organizations have focussed too much on /technical merit/, and not
enough on PR and marketing. Understandable, since engineers are
/technically-minded/ and not so much into human behaviour. I think we need
to treat developers and businessmen like consumers. We need to sell
Smalltalk to them in the same way we sell iPhones and PlayStations. In other
words, we need to build /hype/.
Let's face it: at the best of times, the subject of Smalltalk is rather
staid. STIC and ESUG and the Smalltalk Foundation are not likely to change
this. *I want Smalltalk Renaissance to change this.*
The Smalltalk Renaissance Program is a highly focussed campaign. Like the
language itself, I want to Keep It Simple. (That's why I'm trying to keep
the website clean and free of excess baggage.)
The SRP cannot succeed without /your/ involvement, your participation. I am
not much more than the curator and editor for Smalltalk Renaissance,
although I'm also formulating the short-term and long-term strategy. (You
can call me "Generalissimo" Eng. ;-) )
One of the things I intend to do is ask members of the Smalltalk community
to submit /fresh/ essays and articles on Smalltalk. I have a list of essay
topics prepared, carefully chosen for their relevance and impact on the
future of Smalltalk. I shall be asking people to pick a topic and run with
it. If there are multiple submissions for a particular topic, I shall choose
the best one, edit it, and post it on Smalltalk Renaissance. *I guarantee
you will look good!*
Make no mistake, this is a critical step. *These essays will address the
concerns of non-Smalltalk developers.* You need to make compelling
arguments.
Then we promote these articles and essays on Reddit and Hacker News and so
on.
In the near future, I will also submit Smalltalk articles to the IT press,
such as Wired and InfoWorld. These articles may well benefit from /your
contributions/.
Another important piece of the strategy is to obtain corporate sponsorship.
If not for Apple, the Swift language would never have gotten so much
mindshare. If not for Google, Go would've failed to gain a significant
following. If not for Microsoft, C# would've been forgotten. In today's
highly competitive programming language field, if you don't have a big name
backer, you're already behind the eight ball. Grass roots are unlikely to
succeed.
Getting the imprimatur of a major technology company is a PR coup of
inestimable value. But it's also vital for another reason. In the longer
term, I want to launch software projects that improve on the Smalltalk
technology. Projects such as extending the tooling around the Smalltalk
environment (which has been criticized for not playing well with existing
file-based tooling). Projects such as improving interoperability with
existing (Windows-based) infrastructures in the enterprise (which has been a
source of criticism from the likes of Robert Martin). These projects must be
financed because open source volunteerism isn't enough, not by a long shot.
And this is why we need corporate sponsorship.
Before I make a pitch to a CEO, Smalltalk Renaissance must achieve some
degree of legitimacy. It can do this by signing up well-known names from the
Smalltalk community. Names such as the late James Robertson or Stéphane
Ducasse. I already have a draft letter prepared for an important CEO. I'm
only waiting for a list of SRP signatories before firing off the letter.
(Hint, hint.)
This is what I've come up with so far in my strategic planning. It's a
work-in-progress.
As for Pharo, I've downloaded it and played with it briefly. As far as I can
tell, the IDE is not much different from Squeak. Like I said, the design has
been tweaked and improved, but I don't see anything groundbreaking. Maybe
you and I have different ideas of what "groundbreaking" means.
Nevertheless, as another poster indicated, we can leave this for the future.
For the time being, we need to make Smalltalk, and Pharo in particular, more
attractive to the Enterprise. I'm sure Pharo is doing this. Kudos.
--
View this message in context: http://forum.world.st/The-Smalltalk-Renaissance-Program-tp4797112p4797313.html
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