February 2026 - Pharo-users

Re: iPad Pharo test release

by Tim Mackinnon

Just an FYI - I've been talking to Aaron in the background to see how it looks - and it launches on my ipad pro (a pre mX version) and seems workable although we are looking at how you actually do stuff if you don't have a physical keyboard as thats still a bit awkward while Claude is working on other stuff (its pretty neat seeing how he just asks Claude to take my comments and figure out what to do - its like havind a maid running around behind you). Tim On Wed, 25 Feb 2026, at 1:19 PM, Aaron Wohl via Pharo-users wrote: > Pharo 13 for iPad in the test Apple Store (open in the Apple TestFlight app); > Phone or Mac https://testflight.apple.com/join/kGmPQFr9 > Due to Appleâs no JIT, it's not snappy. But maybe it's still useful? > Source https://github.com/avwohl/iospharo about 100K lines of new source code. > > This is my first venture into using Pharo. I could use advice on where > this project fits in Pharo/Smalltalk land. In the early 80s, I used > the Xerox Parc Alto at Carnegie Mellon to run Smalltalk. I got laid > off, went on a cruise, sat down in a beach chair with LEARN PHARO and > an iPad. But, no Pharo for iPad. So I did the natural thing and told > Claude Code to port Pharo to iPad. 54 days and 1347 commits later, out > popped a usable iPad app. I do have a background in compilers, working > on the Production Quality Compiler project at CMU in the early 1980s, > mostly on lexers. But I didnât write any code for this. I mostly told > CLAUDE a few times a day stop doing workarounds, do what the real VM > does, and thatâs a workaround. CLAUDE would never have succeeded I > think if I hadnât started insisting a focus on getting the test suite > to pass rather than the app to work. > > The main snag using the real VM was encoding the encoding of type info > in the high bits of pointers for immediate types. It seemed simple to > me to shift the type info to the low 3 bits. But Claude could not get > the real VM to stop looking in the high bits; perhaps I should have > pushed harder on that. But I had always heard how easy it was to port > Smalltalk, so I just went with a new VM with the type info in the low > bits. Loading a standard image translates the addresses. > The other issue was that Apple forbids JIT on iPad. So this new VM has > no JIT. > Issues: > - Should this be a separate VM? Should I push harder on getting the > standard VM to work with type info in the low bits and no JIT? Even if > that would be better, is it worth the bother now that this works? > > - I donât want to suck up the PharoSmalltalk name in the Apple stores > if it causes offense. I can call it VibeTalk or something to leave the > name free for a hand-coded version. Or move off the name if a real > contender ever shows. > > - Without JIT, is it too slow to bother releasing? Is there some other > optimization that could bridge the gap if it is too slow? > > - Are there any users who can give the iPad version a really good > workout in real work? The VM passes the test suite. But it just > started working on the iPad today. There will be UI issues. > > - On the iphone the menu bar is cut off, and the welcome window is > mostly off the screen. The menu bar layout is in the image, not the > VM. I am not sure the VM should work around it. Should these be fixed > in the image to have a multi-line menu bar as needed, and reshape > initial window layouts on phones? If so is anyone willing to do the > Smalltalk side or help me do it (I have written mostly other languages)

Feb. 26, 2026

Re: iPad Pharo test release

by Aaron Wohl

Tim, The test flight store was having issues. It looks ok but I can't test it fully as it gives me more access. Can you try it again now? If it still fails, send me the email you log in to Apple with, and I will add it explicitly. It's supposed to be an open test. But the app connect is very squirrely. All the development is scriptable. But as soon as it goes to the store it is all clicks and buttons. ----- Original message ----- From: Tim Mackinnon <tim(a)testit.works> To: Any question about pharo is welcome <pharo-users(a)lists.pharo.org> Cc: Aaron Wohl <xphu(a)awohl.com> Subject: Re: [Pharo-users] iPad Pharo test release Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 8:52 AM Hi Aaron - I was curious what you had done and tried the TestFlight angle but it says you're beta isn't accepting any testers (not sure if thats a setting you control - but just an FYI). Like you - sometimes it is nice to just travel with an iPad and be able to try out random ideas - so we interested in how slow it practically is. Tim On Wed, 25 Feb 2026, at 1:19 PM, Aaron Wohl via Pharo-users wrote: > Pharo 13 for iPad in the test Apple Store (open in the Apple TestFlight app); > Phone or Mac https://testflight.apple.com/join/kGmPQFr9 > Due to Appleâs no JIT, it's not snappy. But maybe it's still useful? > Source https://github.com/avwohl/iospharo about 100K lines of new source code. > > This is my first venture into using Pharo. I could use advice on where > this project fits in Pharo/Smalltalk land. In the early 80s, I used > the Xerox Parc Alto at Carnegie Mellon to run Smalltalk. I got laid > off, went on a cruise, sat down in a beach chair with LEARN PHARO and > an iPad. But, no Pharo for iPad. So I did the natural thing and told > Claude Code to port Pharo to iPad. 54 days and 1347 commits later, out > popped a usable iPad app. I do have a background in compilers, working > on the Production Quality Compiler project at CMU in the early 1980s, > mostly on lexers. But I didnât write any code for this. I mostly told > CLAUDE a few times a day stop doing workarounds, do what the real VM > does, and thatâs a workaround. CLAUDE would never have succeeded I > think if I hadnât started insisting a focus on getting the test suite > to pass rather than the app to work. > > The main snag using the real VM was encoding the encoding of type info > in the high bits of pointers for immediate types. It seemed simple to > me to shift the type info to the low 3 bits. But Claude could not get > the real VM to stop looking in the high bits; perhaps I should have > pushed harder on that. But I had always heard how easy it was to port > Smalltalk, so I just went with a new VM with the type info in the low > bits. Loading a standard image translates the addresses. > The other issue was that Apple forbids JIT on iPad. So this new VM has > no JIT. > Issues: > - Should this be a separate VM? Should I push harder on getting the > standard VM to work with type info in the low bits and no JIT? Even if > that would be better, is it worth the bother now that this works? > > - I donât want to suck up the PharoSmalltalk name in the Apple stores > if it causes offense. I can call it VibeTalk or something to leave the > name free for a hand-coded version. Or move off the name if a real > contender ever shows. > > - Without JIT, is it too slow to bother releasing? Is there some other > optimization that could bridge the gap if it is too slow? > > - Are there any users who can give the iPad version a really good > workout in real work? The VM passes the test suite. But it just > started working on the iPad today. There will be UI issues. > > - On the iphone the menu bar is cut off, and the welcome window is > mostly off the screen. The menu bar layout is in the image, not the > VM. I am not sure the VM should work around it. Should these be fixed > in the image to have a multi-line menu bar as needed, and reshape > initial window layouts on phones? If so is anyone willing to do the > Smalltalk side or help me do it (I have written mostly other languages)

Feb. 25, 2026

Re: iPad Pharo test release

by Tim Mackinnon

Hi Aaron - I was curious what you had done and tried the TestFlight angle but it says you're beta isn't accepting any testers (not sure if thats a setting you control - but just an FYI). Like you - sometimes it is nice to just travel with an iPad and be able to try out random ideas - so we interested in how slow it practically is. Tim On Wed, 25 Feb 2026, at 1:19 PM, Aaron Wohl via Pharo-users wrote: > Pharo 13 for iPad in the test Apple Store (open in the Apple TestFlight app); > Phone or Mac https://testflight.apple.com/join/kGmPQFr9 > Due to Appleâs no JIT, it's not snappy. But maybe it's still useful? > Source https://github.com/avwohl/iospharo about 100K lines of new source code. > > This is my first venture into using Pharo. I could use advice on where > this project fits in Pharo/Smalltalk land. In the early 80s, I used > the Xerox Parc Alto at Carnegie Mellon to run Smalltalk. I got laid > off, went on a cruise, sat down in a beach chair with LEARN PHARO and > an iPad. But, no Pharo for iPad. So I did the natural thing and told > Claude Code to port Pharo to iPad. 54 days and 1347 commits later, out > popped a usable iPad app. I do have a background in compilers, working > on the Production Quality Compiler project at CMU in the early 1980s, > mostly on lexers. But I didnât write any code for this. I mostly told > CLAUDE a few times a day stop doing workarounds, do what the real VM > does, and thatâs a workaround. CLAUDE would never have succeeded I > think if I hadnât started insisting a focus on getting the test suite > to pass rather than the app to work. > > The main snag using the real VM was encoding the encoding of type info > in the high bits of pointers for immediate types. It seemed simple to > me to shift the type info to the low 3 bits. But Claude could not get > the real VM to stop looking in the high bits; perhaps I should have > pushed harder on that. But I had always heard how easy it was to port > Smalltalk, so I just went with a new VM with the type info in the low > bits. Loading a standard image translates the addresses. > The other issue was that Apple forbids JIT on iPad. So this new VM has > no JIT. > Issues: > - Should this be a separate VM? Should I push harder on getting the > standard VM to work with type info in the low bits and no JIT? Even if > that would be better, is it worth the bother now that this works? > > - I donât want to suck up the PharoSmalltalk name in the Apple stores > if it causes offense. I can call it VibeTalk or something to leave the > name free for a hand-coded version. Or move off the name if a real > contender ever shows. > > - Without JIT, is it too slow to bother releasing? Is there some other > optimization that could bridge the gap if it is too slow? > > - Are there any users who can give the iPad version a really good > workout in real work? The VM passes the test suite. But it just > started working on the iPad today. There will be UI issues. > > - On the iphone the menu bar is cut off, and the welcome window is > mostly off the screen. The menu bar layout is in the image, not the > VM. I am not sure the VM should work around it. Should these be fixed > in the image to have a multi-line menu bar as needed, and reshape > initial window layouts on phones? If so is anyone willing to do the > Smalltalk side or help me do it (I have written mostly other languages)

Feb. 25, 2026

iPad Pharo test release

by Aaron Wohl

Pharo 13 for iPad in the test Apple Store (open in the Apple TestFlight app); Phone or Mac https://testflight.apple.com/join/kGmPQFr9 Due to Appleâs no JIT, it's not snappy. But maybe it's still useful? Source https://github.com/avwohl/iospharo about 100K lines of new source code. This is my first venture into using Pharo. I could use advice on where this project fits in Pharo/Smalltalk land. In the early 80s, I used the Xerox Parc Alto at Carnegie Mellon to run Smalltalk. I got laid off, went on a cruise, sat down in a beach chair with LEARN PHARO and an iPad. But, no Pharo for iPad. So I did the natural thing and told Claude Code to port Pharo to iPad. 54 days and 1347 commits later, out popped a usable iPad app. I do have a background in compilers, working on the Production Quality Compiler project at CMU in the early 1980s, mostly on lexers. But I didnât write any code for this. I mostly told CLAUDE a few times a day stop doing workarounds, do what the real VM does, and thatâs a workaround. CLAUDE would never have succeeded I think if I hadnât started insisting a focus on getting the test suite to pass rather than the app to work. The main snag using the real VM was encoding the encoding of type info in the high bits of pointers for immediate types. It seemed simple to me to shift the type info to the low 3 bits. But Claude could not get the real VM to stop looking in the high bits; perhaps I should have pushed harder on that. But I had always heard how easy it was to port Smalltalk, so I just went with a new VM with the type info in the low bits. Loading a standard image translates the addresses. The other issue was that Apple forbids JIT on iPad. So this new VM has no JIT. Issues: - Should this be a separate VM? Should I push harder on getting the standard VM to work with type info in the low bits and no JIT? Even if that would be better, is it worth the bother now that this works? - I donât want to suck up the PharoSmalltalk name in the Apple stores if it causes offense. I can call it VibeTalk or something to leave the name free for a hand-coded version. Or move off the name if a real contender ever shows. - Without JIT, is it too slow to bother releasing? Is there some other optimization that could bridge the gap if it is too slow? - Are there any users who can give the iPad version a really good workout in real work? The VM passes the test suite. But it just started working on the iPad today. There will be UI issues. - On the iphone the menu bar is cut off, and the welcome window is mostly off the screen. The menu bar layout is in the image, not the VM. I am not sure the VM should work around it. Should these be fixed in the image to have a multi-line menu bar as needed, and reshape initial window layouts on phones? If so is anyone willing to do the Smalltalk side or help me do it (I have written mostly other languages)

Feb. 25, 2026

How to make a TextMorph editable

by Jim Rosenberg

I am a rank newbie to Pharo, but have been using Squeak to create interactive content for many years now, and am trying to extrapolate my Squeak experience to Pharo. Under Squeak, the following code creates a new Text Morph which is immediately editable: (TextMorph new initialize contents: 'Hello World') openInWorld When I put this code into a Pharo Playground and click the Do it all button, the text appears in the World, when the cursor is moved over the text it changes to the "I-bar" expected for editing, but nothing works. What do I have to do to get it to be editable? I'm guessing maybe handleEdit: with a suitable block -- well what, actually? Is this documented somewhere? Also: Under Squeak the debug halo includes a choice "save morph in file". Is there a way to do this in Pharo? Is is possible to save a morph in Squeak and then load it into Pharo? -Thanks in advance, Jim

Feb. 25, 2026

"Presentation at ESUG'25" â New blog post on all: objects all: theTime

by Koen De Hondt

Dear Pharo users and developers, The Pharo team has posted the recorded presentations of ESUG 2025 on YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/@esugboard/videos>. I collected links to the slides and the video of my presentation about Hera in a short blog post. https://all-objects-all-the-time.st/#/blog/posts/21 Best regards, Koen

Feb. 24, 2026

Re: Pharo accepted for the GSOC 2026

by Guillermo Polito

Super good news Sebas!!! > Le 24 fÃ©vr. 2026 Ã 9:59â¯AM, Sebastian Jordan via Pharo-users <pharo-users(a)lists.pharo.org> a Ã©crit : > > Dear all, > > We are happy to announce that Pharo Consortium has been selected for Google Summer of Code 2026! This is an exciting opportunity for us to collaborate with talented students on open-source projects throughout the summer. > > The contributor application period is March 16 â March 31 (18:00 UTC). Accepted contributors will be announced on April 30, and the coding period will officially start on May 25. > > Please check out our website for detailed information about the application process and project ideas: > https://gsoc.pharo.org/ > > Best regards, > Sebastian Jordan > On Behalf of the Pharo Consortium

Feb. 24, 2026

Pharo accepted for the GSOC 2026

by Sebastian Jordan

Dear all, We are happy to announce that Pharo Consortium has been selected for Google Summer of Code 2026! This is an exciting opportunity for us to collaborate with talented students on open-source projects throughout the summer. The contributor application period is March 16 â March 31 (18:00 UTC). Accepted contributors will be announced on April 30, and the coding period will officially start on May 25. Please check out our website for detailed information about the application process and project ideas: https://gsoc.pharo.org/ Best regards, Sebastian Jordan On Behalf of the Pharo Consortium

Feb. 24, 2026

Fwd: arXiv endorsement request from Kasper Osterbye

by Kasper Osterbye

Cheers all I am trying to get a usable account on arXiv to have a place where I can put some papers on what I am doing as documented experiments. I find arXiv interesting as it will allow me to publish papers. My ambition is to have a place where I can publish them at what I think of as workspace level. For this to work, you need to click on the https://arxiv.org/auth/endorse?x=HNLNOYï¿¼ My first paper is enclosed (the actual thing to read there is the meta-conclusion - page 5). Best regards, Kasper Ãsterbye > Begin forwarded message: > > From: help(a)arxiv.org > Subject: arXiv endorsement request from Kasper Osterbye > Date: 21 February 2026 at 11.34.27 GMT+1 > To: kasper.osterbye(a)gmail.com > > (Kasper Osterbye should forward this email to someone who's registered > as an endorser for the cs.CL (Computation and Language) subject class of > arXiv.) > > Kasper Osterbye requests your endorsement to submit an article to the > cs.CL section of arXiv. To tell us that you would (or would not) like to > endorse this person, please visit the following URL: > > https://arxiv.org/auth/endorse?x=HNLNOY > > If that URL does not work for you, please visit > > http://arxiv.org/auth/endorse.php > > and enter the following six-digit alphanumeric string: > > Endorsement Code: HNLNOY > ï¿¼

Feb. 21, 2026

Re: Call for Presentation for ESUG 2026

by Joachim Tuchel

Ah, ok, sorry for question no. 1. Monday is teh last day of the isLoop Summer school and Tuesday 7th is the first day of the conference - it is clearly stated on the website... Do you have info on the venue? Am 20.02.26 um 12:12 schrieb stephane ducasse via Pharo-users: > The correct dates are 4 to 10 of July 2026 :) > Sorry for the typo. > > S > >> On 19 Feb 2026, at 11:02, stephane ducasse via Pharo-users <pharo-users(a)lists.pharo.org> wrote: >> >> Hello Happy Smalltalkers >> >> Here is the call for presentation for ESUG 2026. >> >> The ESUG board is pleased to announce Call for presentations at the 31th ESUG conference to be held in >> Plovdiv, Bulgaria 7 - 10 July 2026. >> >> We are looking for YOUR experience on using Smalltalk. >> You will have 30 min for presentations and 45-60 min for hand-ons tutorial. >> >> The list of topics for the normal talks and tutorials includes, but is not limited to the following: >> >> - Micro Services, Container, Cloud, Big Data, >> - XP practices, Development tools, Experience reports >> - Model driven development, Web development, Team management >> - Meta-Modeling, Security, New libraries and frameworks >> - Educational material, Embedded systems and robotics >> - SOA and Web services, Interaction with other programming languages >> - Teaching Pearls >> - Show us Your Business >> - Show your business 10 min session (Get prepared!!) >> >> ## How to submit? >> >> - Submission deadline is 1st of May 2026 >> - Notification of acceptance will be on done on the fly. >> >> Pay attention: the places are limited so do not wait till the last minute to apply. >> >> Prospective presenters should submit a Pull Request on *https://github.com/ESUG/esug.github.io/tree/source/2026-Conference/talks>https://github.com/ESUG/esug.github.io/tree/source/2026-Conference/talks* >> >> If you do not succeed to do a PR you can send an email to <omar.abedelkader(a)inria.fr> and <stephane.ducasse(a)inria.fr> with [ESUG2026] in the title >> >> = Title: Please follow the template below the email will be automatically processed! >> = Name: >> = Email: >> = Abstract: >> = Bio: >> >> Any presentation not respecting this form will be discarded automatically. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- objektfabrik GmbH mailto:jtuchel@objektfabrik.de Fliederweg 1 http://www.objektfabrik.de D-71640 Ludwigsburg HRB 798847 Telefon: +49 7141 56 10 86 0 Amtsgericht Stuttgart

Feb. 20, 2026