Fellow Squeakers,
Squeak is not a toy:
It is excellent for class diagramming with the addition of Connectors, Jacaranda diagram browser, and a little hard play to parse lesser languages with tools like SMACC..
It is a multiply linked living process flow design tool that can be externally linked to mundane documentation and other artifacts.
It is a place to design persistent data stores without having to think too hard about which technology is being used under the covers.
It is a place to test and develop algorithms for just about anything. Some spectacular examples can be seen in Alan Kay’s lecture talk at OOPSLA on how the computer revolution hasn’t happened yet.
It is a spectacular way to get and keep the attention of students and lecture attendies because you can trivially do interactive things that lesser environments are unaware of.
You can write virtual world operating systems like Croquet that are infinitely extendable.
If you don’t like the way it looks, change it. I did so I could see it better. See http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/362
It’s a great mind stretcher. Where else can you bend a glyph, Put it on a tilted key and edit the code in a workspace that is tilted six degrees to the left. Then use the Speaker Child Say: call to tell you which kind of thing is appearing in your simulation space? No where else but squeak I think.
At the same time, Squeak is a toy because:
It’s just plain fun. Where else can you teach high schoolers to route objects, do texture mapping, animate fish, and script the whole thing in the language of your choice?
Where else can you play Pong on your entire desktop and mess with the rules along the way?
Where else can you find an extensive community of people who like to improve the world one mind at a time? Squeakers are a friendly bunch with a diverse interest that makes just being here an enlightening experience.
We all want to keep up this good work.
Tap
P.S. I like the mouse logo. The bat mouse logo is fun too.
squeak-dev@lists.squeakfoundation.org