[self-interest] nice job!

[Jecel Assumpcao Jr.]

I was reading the reports on the SqueakEnd (which is over, but Camp Smalltalk
is happening right now! No, I didn't go to either one) at:

  http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/1199

One thing that seemed to be commented a lot was how Squeak needs to improve its
"out of the box experience". That is, the way the image is distributed now it
is too easy to mess things up and get lost before you get very far, and it is
too hard to get an idea of what it is all about by yourself.

That got me thinking about the great job that was done in Self 4.0. The first
screen just shows you how to get around in Kansas and add remote windows. It
also invites you to navigate to the right where a pretty picture explains how
to use the mouse. This second screen has directions for the various ways you
can explore the system, including a simple and effective tutorial.

I don't know who to congratulate for this (or if everyone shares my positive
impressions), but the Squeak folks could do a lot worse than to copy it. While
they don't have Kansas, some kind of "multipage hyperbook morph" might do the
job nearly as well.

-- Jecel