If you knew Digitalk then remember the contribution that Eric Clayberg provided through the old Compuserve forums. A lot of us would never have got started if we hadn’t had that support. Eric’s knowledge and help got me going back with Mac System 7 and Digitalk back in 1990. David
> On 25 Jul 2021, at 16:29, Russ Whaley <whaley.r...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I agree wholeheartedly with Tim. I first started with Smalltalk in the > Digitalk days. My experience then and throughout my Smalltalk experience with > VW, Squeak, etc., I have never had a community that helped me learn and > embrace Smalltalk like Pharo and the Pharo Community. To me, if I cannot be > successful with the product, I doesn’t really matter how great it is and who > is involved (again, to me). The Pharo community has been so helpful and > responsive, I feel very successful with my Smalltalk projects - and while > there have been many who have helped from the community, I most often lean on > Stephan Ducasse and Esteban Lorenzano for their Pharo documentation (Pharo > books), content, ideas and support. > > Thanks! > Russ > > On Sun, Jul 25, 2021 at 10:31 AM Tim Mackinnon <tim@testit.works> wrote: > Isn’t this the wrong question to ask? I’m assuming this is to do with > Smalltalk’s 50th anniversary, and of course we are grateful to those early > pioneers who did lots of work in the field 20-30 years ago but to me that’s > the old history and while it’s interesting to call out, it doesn’t shed life > on the day to day energy we have today - whst keeps Smalltalk alive and > current. > > I’d like to nominate the Pharo community - being brave enough to fork when it > was felt that doing something different was interesting enough to take the > flack for it. But more than this, so many people have continued to contribute > - teach, fix, pioneer etc. Particularly when there are so many other > languages and movements you can follow - continuing the vision of a simple, > malleable system that everyone can understand and fix is commendable. > > If you really want a name - I’d say Stephan Ducasse and Marcus Denker - I > heard them stand up at Esug 2007 (Lugano) and really call out a vision for a > malleable environment that was Smalltalk inspired but would let them properly > experiment with new language ideas (I recall in particular the reference to > reified inst var slots to let them manipulate programs more easily when > experimenting). This was possibly the foreshadow to Pharo, and it took about > 10 years of incremental improvements to achieve that exciting 2007 vision > that I recall painted at the time. It certainly didn’t happen in a day , and > it’s still happening now as we read this, and the job is still not done. > > But in a way I’m kind of reluctant to name, names as so many people have > piled in around that community vision to make something that will continue to > live and experiment. But to Stephan/Marcus and everyone else - hats off to > you for creating something that is fun and productive to use, but more > importantly is inspiring enough to contribute to. > > Tim > >> On 25 Jul 2021, at 11:00, Clacton Server <da...@totallyobjects.com >> <mailto:da...@totallyobjects.com>> wrote: >> >> Eric Clayberg - John O’Keefe?? > >> >> >>> On 25 Jul 2021, at 09:33, Richard Sargent <rsarg...@5x5.on.ca >>> <mailto:rsarg...@5x5.on.ca>> wrote: >>> >>> Dave Thomas of OTI probably ranks in your list. >>> >>> On July 24, 2021 3:44:40 PM PDT, horrido.hobb...@gmail.com >>> <mailto:horrido.hobb...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> I’m looking for a list of individuals who have contributed greatly to the >>> advancement of Smalltalk, post Xerox PARC period (1972-1980). By >>> advancement, I don’t only mean on a technical basis but on an educational >>> or public awareness basis (this could include books, podcasts, talk >>> circuit, video instruction, etc.). Any basis that has made Smalltalk a >>> success in the marketplace (including commercialization). >>> >>> I posted this question on LinkedIn and got one useful response: the late >>> James Robertson. >>> >>> My personal nomination is Kent Beck. >>> >>> I’m not that familiar with the deep history of Smalltalk, so I’m looking >>> for more nominations. >>> >>> Thanks. >>> >> > -- > Russ Whaley > whaley.r...@gmail.com <mailto:whaley.r...@gmail.com>
