On 17 January 2012 03:20, blake <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 2:43 PM, Frank Shearar <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Frank, > > I agree with what you said EXCEPT that I don't see the NIH mentality in > Smalltalk. What I do see, and have seen a lot of over the years, is people > coming in and banging on Smalltalk's differences without taking the time to > learn the whys and wherefores. I don't think it's knee-jerk defense so much > as a creeping sense that the person complaining maybe isn't in the best > position to do so. (And I say this as someone who's been on several sides of > the argument.)
I'm aware of the reasons why the NIH arises, and I'm sure that's part of why the reaction arises in many other communities. I reserve the right to say "ahem, take the time to actually read what the person's asking for, because they might actually have good ideas". And, in particular, Gerry raises concerns _this very list_ has raised. Living permanently in the image is _bad_, which is why we're moving to Metacello for everything so we can _construct_ an image. Look at Coral, and how they're building a REPL. Look at Laurent Laffont's work on TWM so we can move away from the ridiculous human-as-window manager. That someone comes and says "hey, I score you 90% of my wonderfulometer" is no reason to drive that person away with "go away newbie until you indoctrinate yourself in our ways". (I'm using hyperbole in that last sentence. Please don't understand me as suggesting that we're in a flame war.) Anyway, I have real Smalltalking work to do, to try realise some of the things I need from Smalltalk. Maybe we should all go do that instead of bickering. frank
