There is much to respond to here. First of all, I was NOT putting down ESUG or Smalltalk Foundation. I was simply pointing out that, despite their promotional efforts, Smalltalk has slipped out of the public consciousness, as evidenced by language rankings and coverage in the IT press, as well as the fact that Smalltalk does not compete well against the likes of Java for enterprise adoption. Have I made any inaccurate observations here?
Second, I am NOT trying to over-promote myself or even promote myself at all. The only reason why I state my accomplishments is to *defend* myself against criticism. I don't want the SRP to be about me. I have repeatedly stated that the SRP is about *you*, the Smalltalk community. Without your support and contributions, I do not have a campaign. Period. To the extent that I am challenged in galvanizing the Smalltalk community, I have to visibly lead the charge. I know that everyone is pretty busy, so it is understandable that trying to get you to contribute is rather like pulling teeth. I accept that; it is part of my job. It is thus inevitable that my persona has to enter the picture. And this is apparently a point of friction. Third, it seems funny that I have to give you a "state of the union" report on the campaign. If you were paying attention at all, if you gave a damn, you would have all the information. But nevertheless, here goes... Through a web of social media, through my publications, through the mention of Smalltalk Renaissance in InfoWorld, word of Smalltalk is once again rippling out to the rest of the cybersphere. You can see this on my Twitter feed, where I am continually gaining followers, where my tweets are being retweeted and favourited. Who knows how far these tweets are propagating! It's hard to tell, but I'm guessing that *Smalltalk is on the minds of a lot more people today than it was a month ago.* Ditto for Facebook and Google+ where I'm also continually gaining followers and likes. I'm even gaining followers on WordPress, something that I did not expect. Moreover, exposure at Medium should not be underestimated. It gets a lot of eyeballs. The current tally of "The Smalltalk Revolution" is 14K views and 7.6K reads, with 16 recommendations. This is by far the most popular article I have ever written in my entire life! And I've written a lot of sh*t. Getting a mention in InfoWorld is a big deal. Congrats to James Ladd and Redline. You have no idea how hard it is to get the IT press to cover Smalltalk. I'm thankful for small victories. I have no idea what the impact of all this is, but if Smalltalk manages to get back onto the TIOBE language index in the next month or two, you can be pretty sure it's because of my efforts. Fourth, I am perfectly aware of all the Smalltalk material that have been published online over the years. It is truly voluminous and impressive. It is all part of a "grassroots" effort to promote Smalltalk, and this should not be dismissed. However, grassroots are NOT going to get you where you want to be...unless you are satisfied to remain in your niche forever. The idea that if you build it, they will come, is incredibly naive. You /have/ built it. You /are/ building it. Still, Smalltalk is not gaining a lot of converts. Why? Because you haven't told them a good story. You haven't persuaded them that Smalltalk has a future, after it has fizzled over the past 20 years. This is a tough perception to overcome. The SRP is your opportunity to tell your story. I believe you have the power to persuade. This was the whole idea behind my campaign. Fifth, if you don't believe in my campaign, or in what I'm doing, then why, oh, why am I wasting my time and energy?? If the issue is *me*, my undesirable persona, then perhaps I should step down and let someone else take over. I'm sure one of you can put in the same amount of time and energy that I have (6-8 hours a day, every day for the past several weeks, with many more weeks to come). I'm sure one of you has a better plan, a better strategy. I am not looking for recognition. I am not looking for gratitude (although a wee bit would be appreciated). I am not doing this because I'm an egotistical maniac. I'm doing it because I believe in Smalltalk. I'm doing it out of the kindness and goodness of my heart. But if you think so little of me, then tell me to F--- off. /Because, seriously, I don't need this./ -- View this message in context: http://forum.world.st/Blitzkrieg-tp4800165p4800506.html Sent from the Pharo Smalltalk Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
