The Smalltalk Renaissance Program
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Do a search for Smalltalk resources, such as books, videos, tutorials, blogs, etc., and you will face a virtual avalanche of material. This can be overwhelming for Smalltalk newcomers to filter. Submit your favourite Smalltalk resources and I shall curate them and choose the best ones to place on our Resources page: http://smalltalkrenaissance.wordpress.com/resources/ Thanks. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "amber-lang" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [hidden email]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. |
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I just posted the following on the Pharo-dev forum's sister thread (yeah, it's inconvenient posting to two different forums)...
-- From "The City on the Edge of Forever": KIRK: 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. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "amber-lang" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [hidden email]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. |
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In reply to this post by horrido
My Resources page is looking rather sparse. Doesn't anybody have any favourite Smalltalk resources? Especially for "advanced" Smalltalkers.
-- On Saturday, 27 December 2014 00:36:57 UTC-5, Richard Eng wrote:
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Re: The Smalltalk Renaissance Program
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Richard please mention flow as an Amber-Pharo full-stack framework.
Flow is filling some gaps to help people to implement Single Page Applications with smalltalk in the backend and frontend. Here are some slides about it Here is the open to join trello board of the project If you (or anybody here) want to know more about it we can schedule a hangout and demo it Thanks!
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I think it would actually be better if you added your pitch for flow as a comment on our Resources page, as well as a post on our Facebook and Google+ pages. Eventually, I will have a special Resources section devoted to available software tools where I could include the likes of Seaside and flow.
-- On Thursday, 1 January 2015 18:01:49 UTC-5, Sebastian Sastre wrote:
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Oh wait, I think I'm the only one who can post. Can you write up a little blurb that is publication-ready? Then I'll post it on Facebook and Google+. Meanwhile, you can still comment on our Resources page. In fact, you could submit the comment and I'll just copy it to the other pages.
-- On Thursday, 1 January 2015 23:49:49 UTC-5, Richard Eng wrote:
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Once it's at Facebook and Google+, I'll tweet it out to the world!
-- On Thursday, 1 January 2015 23:55:13 UTC-5, Richard Eng wrote:
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Re: The Smalltalk Renaissance Program
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In reply to this post by horrido
yes you are the The Editor and who publishes :)
-- I'll send you a text suited for that by email On Friday, January 2, 2015 2:55:13 AM UTC-2, Richard Eng wrote:
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In reply to this post by horrido
Our Facebook page needs some TLC (2 Likes so far; looks rather lonely). PLEASE, go there and "Like" it!
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Re: The Smalltalk Renaissance Program
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Hi Richard,
I really enjoy your attempts to promote Smalltalk. Nevertheless, I would like to let you know, that I won't support, share, visit or contribute to any activity linked to Facebook. This might sound strange but I simply do not comply with the newest/intended changes in Facebook's "terms of usage" that also affect Non-Facebook users. I do not support Smalltalk activities that drag generally Smalltalk interested developers, managers or students into any kind of social platform. We have news lists, public code repositories and forums that fulfill all of the purposes needed. Platforms like Facebook, google, etc... are too much overhead and influence into private live. I would even expect an isolation of Smalltalk if such platforms are used for its promotion. Keep it open and simple. Please. There has just been a Smalltalk Foundation founded. I think such places are better suited for a promotion of Smalltalk. Just my 5cents, but I felt like speaking up. Sebastian H. On 2015-01-02 10:18 AM, Richard Eng
wrote:
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I appreciate your candor and I respect your position, even if I do not agree with it.
-- With all due respect, the current situation (of using news lists, repositories, and forums) is not working to popularize Smalltalk. I've already given you evidence of this. And I am not sanguine about the Smalltalk Foundation's prospects in this regard. It's just more of the same old, same old. What is called for is an entirely new approach, one that is based on PR, marketing, and branding through, yes, social media. Despite the terms of use, platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are the most powerful marketing tools in the digital world today. Even if you don't like it, you certainly can't deny it. To ignore these tools, is foolish and counter-productive, IMHO. Just my buck seventy-five... Regards, Richard On Friday, 2 January 2015 13:50:08 UTC-5, HCSebastian wrote:
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In reply to this post by sebastianconcept
I've decided to extend the Resources page with a subsection on "Frameworks and Tools". Check it out. You'll find flow there.
-- On Thursday, 1 January 2015 18:01:49 UTC-5, Sebastian Sastre wrote:
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Sebastian, I don't quite understand how LinkedIn works. When I setup the Smalltalk Renaissance discussion group, I made it public. (At least, I think I made it public.) But I can't tell if it is, in fact, a public discussion group. Could you please verify this for me. Thanks.
-- https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Smalltalk-Renaissance-8225723 On Friday, 2 January 2015 16:13:29 UTC-5, Richard Eng wrote:
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Re: The Smalltalk Renaissance Program
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sure, I’ll send you a screenshot in private email
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In reply to this post by horrido
Richard,
-- this is going to sound much more destructive than I intend it to be. But I am skeptical about just another initiative to promote Smalltalk by collecting links. We've had great initiatives like it, and they all were fine, but my feeling is the level of success was frustrating for the people who started it. Just a few examples that I really liked and was a fan of:
All of them tried what you try to do. And they succeeded and made the world a better place for Smalltalk. None of them managed to draw enough people into supporting it and keep the energy up for a long time. I am not accusing anybody. I frequently visit forum.world.st and use this as my entry point to various groups. So I am far from saying any of these is dead or badly maintained. I think it might work much better if people who want to do something about the visibility of Smalltalk actually contributed to existing sites rather than starting a new one that might be outdated in a year or two. Otherwise there will just be one more cetus links like legacy site. So I too appreciate the energy you put into promoting Smalltalk. I have been in this boat as well a few years ago, and I simply found out I alone cannot keep up with the goal I set myself. Maybe it is much better to try and get in touch with the maintainer of one of the above-mentioned sites and see if it could be fueled with new ideas and energy- The world really doesn't need another site that links to glorp.org or pocket smalltalk. Joachim Am Freitag, 2. Januar 2015 19:18:33 UTC+1 schrieb Richard Eng:
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Re: The Smalltalk Renaissance Program
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Here comes a bunch of painfully obvious things (that are actually used by the LeanStartup method for startups): Currently, more than ever, everybody is reinventing everything. Some experiments work, some doesn’t. Some has limited results. Is not about sites and links. It’s about people leading by example, using their own voice and doing and sharing their best executions on what they do. Of course joining efforts makes a lot of sense many times but that need to happen naturally. If something does not get traction it’s a signal of the "please review how I am being perceived” flag and go back to re-strategize. So, what do you think is better now? Do more of the same experiments that didn’t turn out so well or try new ones with learnt lessons?
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Sebastian,
-- not sure what you are saying here - do you think reinventing a wheel is okay and will brings forward, even if we know the last 10 wheels didn't actually help cross the ocean? I agree that doing something is better than doing nothing (which is what I do at the moment). I think the best thing you can do is write some cool stuff and showcase / promote it, rather than try to be the next web's front page for all things Smalltalk. Why? Because we already have some, most of which have collected lots of material and links and stuff, but probably never used Facebook or twitter (if that is what you think will make the world any better), so they could probably move much bigger rocks if these new ways of promoting would be added into the mix. The best thing that could possibly happen is if somebody came up with the "next Seaside Framework" and built something *really* cool in it. Amber sure has potential here, once it is done reinventing Smalltalk tools on top of Javascript. Please keep in mind that I am not interested in bashing the work Richard (or anybody else who contributes) puts into his project. I am just writing down what I initially thought when I read abut it, just to make sure somebody said it. Joachim Am Mittwoch, 7. Januar 2015 14:03:03 UTC+1 schrieb Sebastian Sastre:
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Ah, and btw, I do by no means think that World.st or goodstart didn't work out well. They worked out very well, and they are good places to go to and hunt for information
-- Am Mittwoch, 7. Januar 2015 14:15:44 UTC+1 schrieb Joachim Tuchel:
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Re: The Smalltalk Renaissance Program
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In reply to this post by jtuchel
On 1/7/15, Joachim Tuchel <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Richard, > > this is going to sound much more destructive than I intend it to be. But I > am skeptical about just another initiative to promote Smalltalk by > collecting links. We've had great initiatives like it, and they all were > fine, but my feeling is the level of success was frustrating for the people > > who started it. > > Just a few examples that I really liked and was a fan of: > > - Monty Kamath's Goodstart was one of the early ones > - Smalltalk.org > - World.st > - Planet Smalltalk Thank you , Joachim for this 'meta list' of 'Smalltalk start' pages? Monty Kamath's Goodstart was one of the early ones , http://www.goodstart.com/ http://smalltalk.org http://World.st Planet Smalltalk, http://planet.smalltalk.org/ Are there some more you consider valuable? --Hannes -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "amber-lang" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [hidden email]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. |
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In reply to this post by jtuchel
On Wednesday, 7 January 2015 06:43:19 UTC-5, Joachim Tuchel wrote:
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If you think Smalltalk Renaissance is "just another initiative to promote Smalltalk by collecting links", then you've truly missed the point of the SRP.
Not quite.
No offense, but Smalltalk.org is a pretty ugly site, and too cluttered, and not very inviting. World.st and Planet Smalltalk are okay, just okay. Goodstart has a few broken links; I suspect some of the "inlined" information may be out-of-date. Maintaining a "resources" website and keeping it current is a lot of work. But my point is that none of these sites truly represent a PR or marketing campaign.
Precisely! Absolutely correct! That's why I cannot do this alone. The SRP campaign is about you, the Smalltalk community. Without you, there is no campaign. The traditional grassroots efforts to promote Smalltalk in the past have been a dismal failure, as I already explained previously. Therefore, I am trying something new and different. The campaign has several elements to it:
New and different are the operative words. It's about building hype, building a brand, and obtaining corporate sponsorship. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "amber-lang" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [hidden email]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. |
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