Hi, In general (you all know me), I have the policy of “do not go alien just because” which means we do not need to reinvent the wheel all the time and we need to stick with what is already there and known (I have pushed many changes in pharo following this direction, iceberg being just the latest), but we need to keep also the basis of what we are (which means: when we need to stay alien, we need to embrace it too).
Said that: while I would LOVE to have a markdown compatible format, the amount of effort put on pillar to make it *what we need* and is a format used not just for doing README.md but to write books, etc., then replacing it would be complicated. but… I think we can do pillar syntax more “markdown alike” (and we can even have a stripped-pillar with would be even more like md), I would salute such change. cheers, Esteban > On 15 Aug 2017, at 19:23, Eliot Miranda <eliot.mira...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > On Aug 15, 2017, at 7:25 AM, Ben Coman <b...@openinworld.com > <mailto:b...@openinworld.com>> wrote: > >> >> >> On Tue, Aug 15, 2017 at 12:54 AM, Esteban A. Maringolo <emaring...@gmail.com >> <mailto:emaring...@gmail.com>> wrote: >> You hit several birds with one single mail. >> >> 2017-08-14 13:34 GMT-03:00 Tim Mackinnon <tim@testit.works >> <mailto:tim@testit.works>>: >> > Jimmie et al. nicely reasoned arguments - and Doru's point about >> > controlling >> > the syntax is an interesting one that I hadn’t thought about. >> > >> > Personally, I find having too many similar syntax’s confusing - >> > contributing >> > to things is hard enough - having to remember that its !! Instead of ## and >> > “” instead of ** is just frustrating for me. >> >> +1 >> >> Not only for docs, most platforms like Slack/Discord share the syntax, >> so now I'm getting "muscle memory" when typing literals using the >> backtick (`) character, quoting with > or pasting snippets using ``` >> >> +1. So I've posted this before... >> >> https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/03/strategy-letter-iii-let-me-go-back/ >> >> <https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/03/strategy-letter-iii-let-me-go-back/> >> describing that "The only strategy in getting people to switch to your >> product is to eliminate barriers" >> >> But more... the best reason for Pillar to support a Markdown-ish syntax, is >> that when we scratch-our-own-itch (nominally for Pillar) to build the best >> damn markup-editor ever (because we can!) - if this happened to support >> Markdown it can draw in Markdown-non-Pharo users (because its the best >> editor ever!). Those users later want to make modifications, and now have a >> *reason* to learn Pharo... ahHaA! now you see the cunning plan... >> >> So don't just promote to people "hey come and play with this cool toy of >> ours (Pharo)." >> Instead give them a toy they *already-want* (Markdown editor) and then when >> they want to change the batteries, they *need* to use our special >> screwdriver (Pharo). > > +1! > >> >> cheers -ben >> >> >> > Sure, maybe we were first with Pillar, but for me, lots of programming is >> > in >> > other languages, and I use Smalltalk where I can, and a hybrid of multiple >> > languages and projects is often the reality - so a lowest common >> > denominator >> > of Markdown is just easier. The fact that we are quite close to what our >> > colleagues in other languages use (regardless of what Python has chosen), >> > is >> > quite interesting. >> >> This helps building "bridges" with other communities. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> The language as a means of exchange is always the lowest common denominator. >> As long as it's "efficient enough" then I vote to use what other >> communities use. >> >> > That said, if the community wants to stick to its gun’s thats fine - I will >> > probably still investigate how to use Commonmark for myself, and will still >> > contribute to Pillar docs where I can (and curse history) - but I think we >> > are long better off trying to join emerging standards where we can >> > particularly if they aren’t our core language thing. And it just makes it >> > less frictionless for ourselves and newcomers. >> >> The "Not Invented Here" syndrome is strong among Smalltalkers, it's >> important to be aware of this bias and think more than once whether >> eating our own dogfood adds value to the core of what Pharo brings. >> >> I think we missed some good years fighting with our own SCM and in the >> end git (or any other file based SCM) prevailed, even when it has >> limitations. >> >> Pareto (80-20) for everything non-core business should be a guide. >> >> > Of course, if we were to move, we would need to translate a lot of quality >> > docs to a new format - but I would be up for contributing to that if that >> > was a deciding factor. >> >> There are some Markdown exporters AFAIK, or it could be written. >> >> >> Esteban A. Maringolo
