Paolo, Stephen, Thanks for your replies. The only disagreement we have so far would over the "vs." aspect of my decision. From my perspective, it is a big decision with lots of lost work if I make a bad choice, and I must approach it like a business decision (which in fact it is). Beyond that, sure, live and let write software.
A few random thoughts: Database connectivity: MySQL is the one to do :) It would also be nice to have ODBC capability. Drats - make that a must (I have to talk to Oracle too). I am not a big user of RDBs, but they do some things _very_ well. Also, the rest of the world uses them (even when they are not a good fit), and the ability to spin off Access databases as snapshots has been quite helpful for collaboration. With good external call capabilities, an ODBC layer is just a matter of some work. SSL - that's ok, Squeak does not really have them either, though I suspect it will via the crypto group. There is always stunnel too, though I prefer to have zero chance of configuration mistakes leading to use of clear text communications. There is always OpenSSL and FFI. Seaside? That means you are doing continuations. Clearly licensing will require some investigation. I would be a fool to shun VW for runtime fees, only to use something that (forgive the alarmism for example's sake) makes everything I write open to the world. That won't be the case, but I do need to ensure that I can: (1) create and use software for commercial purposes; (2) be able sell/license said software. I have no problem with giving away improvements to the system itself, and would want to do so because it would enhance a system in which I would have a considerable investment of time and money. Suppose we want to climb three separate mountains, but need to cross another range to get to them; I am suggesting that we collaborate freely to cross the first range, and then have the option to sell our respective IMAX movies :) I strongly recommend finishing the graphical environment. The essential components for the IDE are the browser, inspector, notifier (ok so far) and (ouch!!!) debugger. The latter is really the star of the show, and (forgive me) you do not have a complete Smalltalk system without it. As I said, I am not an XP advocate, but they get several things right, and working in the debugger is one of the gems. A file-out mechanism should be easy enough to create. Harder is to do packaging (witness the ongoing struggle in Squeak with dependency). The Dolphin approach is to force the user to define package boundaries; we get by just fine w/o a change sorter. Stephen, re the OS, I do not so much care that it is free as robust, well-maintained, easy to use, predictable, and driven by those objectives rather than to maximize market churn. Linux seems like a good choice. Thanks! Bill Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D. University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology PO Box 100254 Gainesville, FL 32610-0254 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (352) 846-1285 FAX: (352) 392-7029 _______________________________________________ help-smalltalk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-smalltalk
