On 19-10-17 09:04, Paulo R. Dellani wrote:
Unfortunately, it is not easy to always point out why Smalltalk should be employed as "main development language" in a team or for a project. In the last discussion of this sort I was confronted with the question "where are we going to get new smalltalk developers if our startup grows or if you go?". Well, I had no good answer to that. What would have you answered?
Regularly I go to the Esug Conference and the Pharo Days, and this year I had to cancel plans to go to Smalltalks. Those are places where I talk to smalltalkers, new and experienced. Every year there are good developers there who are looking for work, as intern, as a contractor or as an employee. By being there regularly I know who to talk to for different kinds of jobs, and for recommendations. Once in a while I also visit RMoD and HPI, to talk with people teaching smalltalk. The Pharo consortium maintains a list of consultants doing smalltalk work.
For a company dependent on Smalltalk, I'd develop a systematic approach to ensuring attractiveness to smalltalk developers. Participation in the Pharo Consortium and presenting at conferences about open source contributions would be part of that, as might be defining research topics or summer jobs for students.
Stephan
