Esteban A. Maringolo wrote
> This is my point, who uses WebDAV as its file support?
> It is a "workaround" to enable file based development. A VERY CLEVER
> one, but still.

A tool is always a layer of abstraction over the real model. I wouldn't say
it's any more of a workaround than a System Browser is a workaround to
enable source code based development instead of the real underlying bytecode
model ;)

But what I'm seeing in this conversation is a useful marketing path. What if
we collected the most common objections to Smalltalk and worked on making
the solutions easy and well-documented. We have the building blocks, but I
mean packaging and explaining them from an outsiders point of view.

For example, even though we Smalltalkers may not want to edit St code in
emacs/vim (although I do miss the bindings - Igor, help we need that new
text editor ha ha!), it might be a good investment to make sure it can be
done easily in Pharo and prominently display that feature on the website.
FAQ Q: Can I develop in my favorite text editor A: Yes! Choose "enable
external editor" from the world menu... And maybe not even mention that
developing outside the live, dynamic environment is not a good idea. Maybe
that's the teddy bear they need to hold onto in a scary new world until they
get comfortable and realize the power and advantage of giving that up for
themselves.

Same goes with Unix interop. REPL is easy, but is it documented and
marketed? What would it take to easily pipe output of other programs to
Pharo? Maybe be able to sourceCodeString exportAsUnixCommand:
'/usr/bin/my_cool_command'

We're usually do screencasts of "blue plane ideas that people don't even
know they need". A series of "pink plane things that people are attached to,
even if they would probably give them up if they grokked Smalltalk", but
presented as serious how-tos, could really help us grow to critical mass.



-----
Cheers,
Sean
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