Hi all!
Stef, thanks a lot! Actually we've always tried to rather adapt the Scratch code to conform to Pharo, better than the other way around. In some cases this wasn't possible, but we've tried to keep Scat from touching core Pharo code as much as possible.
Serge, the thing is that the code in Scratch is terribly bad... maintaining it is close to impossible. The project was coded by several different students with different coding styles and barely any Smalltalk experience. They took advantage of bugs in the old Squeak version used to build Scratch, and mixed view and controllers so hard one can barely distinguish them at all. We've made our best to get what we could to work in Pharo, but we never tried to make the code better.
What we mean when we say we will not maintain it anymore is that we are not going to perform major fixes to the code any further. We will not waste more time trying to make importing/exporting Scratch files better, or rack our brains to get the sound recorder to work. But if somebody is using the Scat code for some project and needs a small fix which we can help with, we will of course offer our help!
After all this time we think the only good approach to enhance the code in Scratch would be to erase it all, rethink it all over and do it right from the beginning, which is the approach the BYOB guys are taking in Berkeley with their Snap project, and the results are so far pretty impressive:��
http://chirp.scratchr.org/dl/experimental/JsMorphic/nasciturus.html
So, what are we to do with all the time and effort we put into Scat? Well, we do have a lot of useful stuff ported to Pharo! We can capture webcam images, we have a graphic block execution engine, a paint editor, a sound engine, etc. So not all efforts have been in vain!
Cheers!
2011/12/13 Serge Stinckwich
<serge.stinckwich@gmail.com>
2011/12/13 Bernat Romagosa <tibabenfortlapalanca@gmail.com>:
> Hi list,
>
> Joan G��ell and I have been working on��Scat -the Scratch port to Pharo-��quite
> a lot recently.��We wanted to push it to a point where we could release the
> first reasonably working version, which we've just managed today.
Great work Joan & Bernat !
> Please take a look at the release announcement��(which should be read in a
> bit of a humorous tone), in which we explain what's up with the project and
> what future is left for it.
>
> For the tl;dr version, please read:
>
> Many things are working, many aren't, but the state of the project allows us
> to move into more interesting stuff based on the graphic programming
> metaphor.
> Scat is a time-consuming, brain-smashing, life sucking-project.
> We no longer will be maintaining this massive unmaintainable code.
> Suddenly: free time for other projects!
Why do you say that you will not maintain the project anymore ?
Do you mean this is better to rebuild something better ?
Any news from Scratch about a relicensing of the core ?
Regards,
--
Serge Stinckwich
UMI UMMISCO 209 (IRD/UPMC), Hanoi, Vietnam
Matsuno Laboratory, Kyoto University, Japan (until 12/2011)
http://www.mechatronics.me.kyoto-u.ac.jp/
Every DSL ends up being Smalltalk
http://doesnotunderstand.org/
--
Bernat Romagosa.
