Bug#236721: Squeak in Debian main

["Andreas Kuckartz" <A.Kuckartz@ping.de>]

> (4) The distributed files squeak.changes and squeak.image, both around
> 10MB, are shipped in binary form. I wonder if there should be source
> code to create them initially. (See DFSG.2, "Source Code")

The .changes file contains Smalltalk source code (if the system is not
broken!).

I think that one can argue that there exists nothing really comparable
to the .image files used by Smalltalk-80 systems for other programming
languages. Those .image-files exist since at least 25 years and in my
opinion they are an important aspect of the Smalltalk-80 way of doing
things. In some way it is comparable to a living organism.

And - in contrast to most other languages - the Smalltalk parser,
compiler and even major parts of the virtual Squeak machine are
implemented in Smalltalk and not in another language.

>From the man page for Squeak:

"The  file squeak.image holds the objects representing the entire 
state  of  your world,  including  things such as open windows, a class
hierarchy, textual notes, prototype objects, and diagrams.  The  file 
squeak.changes holds   a   log  of  any  program  code  you  have 
written. Finally, SqueakV*.sources files are symbolic links to
system-wide files holding program code that is common to all Squeak worlds."

Cheers,
Andreas
(I am not a Debian developer but first got into contact with
Smalltalk-80 in August 1981.)