4 ms·

That would be a bad idea. In Smalltalk the "image" was the main thing and I think that was one thing that led to the commercail demise of Smalltalk. You can not

That would be a bad idea. In Smalltalk the "image" was the main thing and I think that was one thing that led to the commercail demise of Smalltalk. You can not combine two (or more) images. You can not build new things by using "images" as components. Instead as we know source-code modules with well-defined interfaces between them is what keeps productivity hhigh. At least before AI.

goatlover 2mo ago
Images can be saved out as files, so I don't see why not. Also, I recall it was the expensive commercial licensing along with the rise of cheap PCs as competition to Lisp and ST machines. That and Java being free with a focus on networking and the web was the final nail in squashing Lisp or ST popularity.
- igouy 2mo ago
  March 7, 1988 — "Smalltalk/V 286 is available now and costs $199.95, the company said. Registered users of Digitalk's Smalltalk/V can upgrade for $75 until June 1." https://books.google.com/books?id=CD8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA25&dq=digitalk%20v%2F286&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q=digitalk%20v%2F286&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=CD8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA25&dq=d... September 1991 — "Smalltalk/V code is portable between the Windows and the OS/2 versions. And the resulting application carries no runtime charges. All for just $499.95." (Advert on the last page of "The Smalltalk Report") https://rmod-files.lille.inria.fr/Archives/TheSmalltalkReport/PDFS/ST/91_95/SMAL0101.PDF https://rmod-files.lille.inria.fr/Archives/TheSmalltalkRepor...
  - galaxyLogic 2mo ago
    Good pointers. But Claude Code is even more expensive.
    - igouy 2mo ago
      Back in the day those were not unusual costs for programming tools. (Beer wasn't free.)
      - galaxyLogic 2mo ago
        There's no such thing as free beer
- igouy 2mo ago
  Java being free-as-in-beer.
igouy 2mo ago
> You can not combine two (or more) images. Depends what you mean. Details matter. > You can not build new things by using "images" as components. Depends what you mean. Details matter.

goatlover 2mo ago

Images can be saved out as files, so I don't see why not. Also, I recall it was the expensive commercial licensing along with the rise of cheap PCs as competition to Lisp and ST machines. That and Java being free with a focus on networking and the web was the final nail in squashing Lisp or ST popularity.

igouy 2mo ago
March 7, 1988 — "Smalltalk/V 286 is available now and costs $199.95, the company said. Registered users of Digitalk's Smalltalk/V can upgrade for $75 until June 1." https://books.google.com/books?id=CD8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA25&dq=digitalk%20v%2F286&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q=digitalk%20v%2F286&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=CD8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA25&dq=d... September 1991 — "Smalltalk/V code is portable between the Windows and the OS/2 versions. And the resulting application carries no runtime charges. All for just $499.95." (Advert on the last page of "The Smalltalk Report") https://rmod-files.lille.inria.fr/Archives/TheSmalltalkReport/PDFS/ST/91_95/SMAL0101.PDF https://rmod-files.lille.inria.fr/Archives/TheSmalltalkRepor...
- galaxyLogic 2mo ago
  Good pointers. But Claude Code is even more expensive.
  - igouy 2mo ago
    Back in the day those were not unusual costs for programming tools. (Beer wasn't free.)
    - galaxyLogic 2mo ago
      There's no such thing as free beer
igouy 2mo ago
Java being free-as-in-beer.

igouy 2mo ago

> You can not combine two (or more) images. Depends what you mean. Details matter. > You can not build new things by using "images" as components. Depends what you mean. Details matter.