[Help-smalltalk] Re: [Esug-list] Google Summer Of Code 2010 news!!!

[Paolo Bonzini]

> We think that one of the most important reasons why we failed in 2009 is
> that Google was looking for bigger communities that Squeak. This is why
> this year we all go under the ESUG umbrella. We present ESUG as the
> mentor organization and we cover ALL open-source Smalltalk dialects, not
> only Squeak. Pharo, Smalltalk/X, GNU Smalltalk, Cuis..they are all
> invited to participate. Also cross platform projects like Seaside,
> AidaWeb, Magma, etc are welcome.

Here is a list of ideas from me, all more or less involving 
cross-dialect pollination.  These are based on my preferences, from most 
to least preferred

1) GNU Smalltalk includes a refactored version of Swazoo that supports 
SCGI and is also faster in general.  Start from there and backport the 
changes to Squeak/Pharo.  Use Seaside's Grease cross-dialect 
compatibility layer to get rid of (most of) the Sport dependency.

2) Convert existing cross-platform projects to use Grease.  Demonstrate 
them using two-three dialects (VW, Squeak, GST).  Discuss possible 
extensions to Grease and implement them.  Document Grease extension 
based on the formalism of the ANSI standard.

3) I agreed with the FSF to relicense GNU Smalltalk's file system 
classes under MIT license.  Port them to at least two other dialects 
(Squeak/Pharo count as one).  Think of cool ways to use them.  Possibly 
work out how to integrate them into Grease and make Seaside use them.

4) Build a continuous integration server using Seaside, Iliad or 
AidaWeb.  Build an interface to version control systems (possibly 
supporting both independent systems such as Monticello or file-based 
such as svn/CVS/git) that can be used from Smalltalk and integrate it 
with Smalllint code reports.  For a more ambitious project, the server 
should be able to start a new image, upgrade the package, run SUnit 
tests there and communicate back the results---the time to upgrade the 
package should be minimized of course!

5) Work on a cross-dialect foreign function call interface and implement 
it in at least two dialects.  Candidates include Alien and GNU 
Smalltalk's CObject (using existing implementation has the advantage of 
having to implement in only _one_ other dialect!).  Bonus points for 
implementing a C parser that would be able to construct bindings.  GNU 
Smalltalk already contains a C preprocessor implementation.

Paolo