Hi Carl,
I downloaded my email this evening, expecting something important and
exciting to appear in my mailbox. I wasnt' disappointed, this is it.
I can't wait to get my fingers and REBOL/View. It appears to be exactly
what I've been dreaming of for some time. Java VM was too slow, too bloated
and too sensitive for serious GUI based applications to be delivered over
the net. Javascript is dependent on a browser environment, exists in to(w)o
many incompatible dialects and is too limited to Web page designs. I found
Juice to be too limited in its capabilities as well.
So, even though I'm still trying to catch up with my work, which is why I
haven't been able to follow the discussions on the list for some time, I
had to put aside everything for a moment.
Seems like the year 2000 is going to be a great year for programming.
Elan
At 05:02 PM 1/2/00 -0800, you wrote:
>What's next for REBOL...
>"More than just a tool."
>
>Since its first release, I estimate that more than 250,000
>people have tried REBOL. More than 110,000 have downloaded it
>from REBOL.com, and it's also available on many other, larger
>web sites and on various CD-ROMs. In addition, I've received
>tens of thousands of emails from enthusiastic new users. And,
>perhaps even more gratifying, most people I meet these days have
>at least heard of REBOL.
>
>All of this is a good start. REBOL/Core is a great tool. And,
>if that's all you want, then there you have it: REBOL. However,
>I've always intended REBOL to be more than just a "tool". REBOL
>is a revolution. A revolution not just of "scripting", but of
>thought, style, content, and computing.
>
>So far, you've participated in the first stage of the
>revolution. That stage was centered around the core language and
>its environment. If you're like me, you've enjoyed writing
>dates, times, email, urls, money, tuples, and other datatypes in
>a manner that is familiar to us as humans. Perhaps you've also
>found the built-in network protocols useful and experienced some
>of the power that comes from polymorphic function-based
>programming with refinements.
>
>Now is the time for the second stage: REBOL/View. This stage is
>all about making REBOL useful and exciting for everyone else. In
>other words, more than just programmers and scripters should
>benefit from REBOL. For every scripter there are at least 100
>other people who would enjoy creating or viewing visual content
>with REBOL.
>
>REBOL/View unites a clean method of graphical layering,
>compositing, and processing with the expressive leverage of
>dialecting. With it you create content and applications with as
>few lines as you accomplish other REBOL tasks such as networking.
>The GUI dialect allows your code to be descriptive and easy to
>read. In fact, it's much easier and more readable than HTML.
>
>When you combine this GUI with REBOL networking, you get a
>result that I enjoy calling the "World Wide Reb". Imagine a
>network where fully interactive graphical applications download
>into your system in just seconds. These REBOL "smart-client"
>applications run on your local system, but access the network
>whenever necessary to fetch other parts of the application or
>communicate back to various servers or other clients. So, when
>you click on a button, something happens... not just in a few
>minutes or seconds, but immediately.
>
>That seems more like the kind of technology that's worthy of a
>revolution. Don't get me wrong... The web is great for static,
>linear, document types of content. That's a necessity that will
>be around for a long time. But, I dream about the year 2005 and
>believe that our network experience will be much different by
>then. I'm convinced that once you have had the chance to try
>REBOL/View, you'll agree with me.
>
>"When" you ask? I've got the first draft design complete, and
>Jim has written the C-based graphical layering system. Over the
>last week I've added the parse block capability necessary to
>make dialects easier to write, and the first GUI dialect is now
>up and drawing screens. (Nice looking screens they are too.) My
>plan is to release a beta by mid-January to those of you who
>want to test drive it. I will provide a number of interesting
>example scripts that I guarantee will be immediately useful to
>you.
>
>There is a bonus for those of you who like technical challenges.
>REBOL/View will include its GUI dialect source code. That gives
>you the power to enhance the GUI as well as create your own custom
>GUI dialect, say for interactive TV, kiosks, games, or whatever.
>
>Yes, the year 2000 has finally arrived. It seems like a fitting
>time for a revolution, don't you think?
>
>Have a happy and REBOLlious 2000,
>
>Carl Sassenrath
>REBOL Creator & Founder
>Chairman & CEO
>
>PS: I'd like to also thank all of you who have helped support
>the REBOL cause and who have taken the time to share your
>knowledge and insights of REBOL with others on this list.
>Thank you so much.
>
>[Feel free to repost this email as you wish.]
>
>
>
;- Elan >> [: - )]
