The Weekly Squeak

Author: Scott Gibson

  • Squeak 6.1 Released!

    Squeak 6.1 Released!

    The following was announced on the Squeak mailing lists on August 10, 2026. You can find the announcement thread on the mailing lists (here). Thanks to everyone who has contributed, provided input, and used Squeak!

    You can try out Squeak 6.1 in your browser! Just go to try.squeak.org to get started.

    Below is the official mailing list announcement:

    Hi all —

    We are happy to announce the release of Squeak 6.1! Save the Date! There will be a Squeak Release Party on September 2nd, 2026! If you want to, bring a short demo along. More info will follow soon.

    Go ahead, visit our website [1], experience our interactive release notes [2], and try it out for yourself [3]!

    Thank you all for the contributions! 🙂

    Best,
    Marcel and Christoph (on behalf of the Squeak Community)

    [1] https://www.squeak.org/
    [2] https://squeak.org/release_notes/6.1/
    [3] https://files.squeak.org/6.1/Squeak6.1-23976-64bit/

    Have a great time with Smalltalk and keep on Squeaking!

  • Upcoming Smalltalks 2026 conference at Facultad Regional Rosario, UTN

    Upcoming Smalltalks 2026 conference at Facultad Regional Rosario, UTN

    The Smalltalks 2026 conference is coming soon! The conference will take place from October 14 to 16, 2026, at Facultad Regional Rosario, UTN.

    When & Where
    This year’s conference will take place October 14–16 at Facultad Regional Rosario, UTN. Registration is now open. Talk submissions will be accepted through September 1, and speakers will be notified of acceptance on September 21.

    For the latest updates, schedules, and announcements, visit smalltalks2026.fast.org.ar

    Check out last year’s highlights!
    Be sure to check out videos from the Smalltalks 2025 conference at FAST Foundation on YouTube to get a glimpse of the exciting talks and sessions.

    Have a great time with Smalltalk and keep on Squeaking!

  • Squeak Oversight Board for 2026

    Squeak Oversight Board for 2026

    Congratulations to the 2026 Squeak Oversight Board members on their election.

    Thank you to all who participated as candidates and supported the process along the way. Squeak continues to thrive because of the people who contribute their time, ideas, and leadership to the community.

    A special thank-you to Patrick for once again coordinating the election and guiding the process so effectively.

    We are excited to work with both new and continuing board members and look forward to all that the coming year will bring.

    The following is Patrick’s official announcement shared with the Squeak Developers mailing list:

    Hi everyone,

    I’m very pleased to announce your Squeak Oversight Board for 2026. They are:

    1. Marcel Taeumel
    2. Eliot Miranda
    3. David T. Lewis
    4. Christoph Thiede
    5. Craig Latta
    6. Scott Gibson
    7. Jaromir Matas

    I would like to thank everyone that served on the board in the term of 2025. Thank you for your contributions to Squeak!

    Thank you to everyone that ran this year and for everyone that voted. We are looking forward to a great year in the Squeak community!

    Please help me to congratulate your new board for 2026!!

    All the best,
    Patrick

    Photo by RDNE Stock project from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sticky-notes-on-whiteboard-7580842/

  • Squeak Oversight Board 2026 – Call For Candidates

    Squeak Oversight Board 2026 – Call For Candidates

    The message below was shared by Patrick Rein on the Squeak Developers mailing list (link here). We encourage you to put your name forward or support a candidate by casting your vote on Squeak-dev. This is a great opportunity to take part. Now is a great time to become involved!

    Hi All,

    (If you plan to run, please note the important information for board members below).

    It’s that time again. Time to raise your voices and elect your leaders! Can you believe it’s been over a year already?

    It’s a time for you to stand up, help your community and volunteer to serve!

    Squeak wants you!

    Every year we elect the SOB (Squeak Oversight Board) consisting of seven members from our community. The current board members are:

    • Marcel Taeumel
    • Vanessa Freudenberg
    • Eliot Miranda
    • Tim Rowledge
    • David T. Lewis
    • Christoph Thiede
    • Rachel Crowther
    • Scott Gibson

    For more info on the board please see:  https://squeakboard.wordpress.com/our-mission/

    Everything about the election, including schedule and more, can be tracked here:  http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/6675

    Now until Friday 8th of May 2026, 18.00 UTC: Nominations of SOB members and campaigning!

    Important Information for Candidates: As Squeak is a member project of the Software Freedom Conservancy, board members need to follow and sign the SFCs conflict of interest policy, which you can find here: https://sfconservancy.org/projects/policies/conflict-of-interest-policy.html

    Candidates should nominate themselves and start their campaign on the squeak-dev mailing list. Or if you nominate someone else, make sure that person really wants to run. 🙂 I will not put anyone on the candidate list until that person makes it known on squeak-dev that he/she intends to run.

    During this period, the candidates should ideally present themselves on squeak-dev, unless they have already done so, and the community can ask questions.

    I encourage you to reach out to potential candidates, people that are active in the community and represent your views, and ask them to run. Some people will not run without encouragement.  Also, I know that some people wait to the last minute to run for the board to see if others will run but please consider getting this year off to a faster start and just jump right in!

    The schedule and process are as follows:

    • Now until Friday 8th of May 2026, 18.00 UTC: Nominations of SOB members and campaigning!
    • Friday 8th of May 2026, 18.00 UTC: Candidate list is finalized.
    • Friday 8th of May 2026, ~19.00 UTC: Online election starts.
    • Friday 22nd of May 2026, 19.00 UTC: Online election ends.
    • Results will be announced immediately after the election ends.

    The voting period is two weeks long and ballots are sent out via email.

    And how do you end up on the voter list? See below. 🙂

    IMPORTANT: New voters will not be added once the election is started. You must try to get on the voter list before the 8th of May 2026 or you will not be able to vote. If your Email has changed please try to make sure it is changed on the list of voters before the election starts.

    ————————–

    If you were invited to vote last year you are already on the voter list, no worries! If you are a new Squeaker and wish to vote you should do one of the following:

    • Get a “known” Squeaker to vouch for you. If a known Squeaker sends an email to voters (at) squeak.org giving me a name and email for you, then I will add you.
    • Send an email to voters (at) squeak.org yourself (and CC to squeak-dev if you like) with information/arguments showing me that you are indeed serious about voting and that you are indeed a Squeaker.

    When the voting period starts all voters will receive an email with instructions and a link to the voting website.

    If there are any further questions, just reply *in this thread* and I will closely track it – or send email to voters (at) squeak.org which is updated and points to me.

    …so let’s get on with it!

    All the best, Patrick

    Photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-white-and-red-love-print-card-8850718/

  • ESUG 2026 International Conference

    ESUG 2026 International Conference

    31st International Joint Conference ESUG

    The 31st ESUG conference will be held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria from Tuesday 7th to Friday 10th of July 2026. The colocated isLoop summer school to be held from Saturday 4th to Monday 6th of July 2026 and spread all during the conference through student volunteering program.

    Location and Venue

    Calls for Contributions

    This call includes:

    Call for Presentations

    ESUG Main Track is inviting interested speakers! In the Call for Presentations we are looking for YOUR experience on using Smalltalk. You will have 30 min for presentations and 45-60 min for hand-ons tutorial.

    Technology Award Competition

    The top 3 teams with the most innovative software will receive, respectively, 500 Euros, 300 Euros and 200 Euros during an awards ceremony at the conference. Developers of any Smalltalk-based software are welcome to compete. Read more in the Call for the Innovation Technology Awards

    Show us Your Project

    Additionally, we invite all attendies to announce their fresh work in any of Smalltalk technologies and to show it shortly during the dedicated sessions during the conference. We will collect the show topics during the conference at the student volunteer desk.

    International Workshop on Smalltalk Technologies

    IWST is an inspirative venue for sharing early ideas, preliminary results, tool demonstration, and any other more-or less immature form of innovation and research contribution published in an academic manner.

    Student Volunteer Program

    If you are a student wanting to attend ESUG, have you considered being a student volunteer? Student volunteers help keep the conference running smoothly; in return, they have free accommodations, while still having most of the time to enjoy the conference. More information. From last year, ESUG is co-locating the isLoop summer school for student volunteers during the weekend before the conference.

    You can support the ESUG conference in many different ways:

    • Sponsor the conference by our sponsoring packages
    • Submit a talk, a software or a paper to one of the events. See below.
    • Attend the conference. We’d like to beat the previous record of attendance.

    Thanks to our sponsors, students can get free registration and hosting if they enroll into the Student Volunteers program.

    Conference Registration

    Conference Registration. Now you can also pay (without extra fees) at HelloAsso.

    Early registration deadline: 01/04/2026

    Registration fees are:

    • Early Registration Fee: 600€ (all days) / 200€ (per day)
    • Late Registration Fee: 1000€ (all days) / 300€ (per day)
    • Extra person to social dinner: 70€
    • Payment by bank transfer: free of charge
    • Payment by credit card: +6% fees

    Note! In case of (too) late registrations we cannot ensure the availability of T-Shirts nor Social Event entrance for extra participants. Cancellation Policy: If the refund is requested during the early bird period all the fee (without charges) will be refunded. If it is requested after the early bird period is finished, the refund will be 50%.

    Got to the Conference organization

  • Happy 29th Birthday to Squeak!

    Happy 29th Birthday to Squeak!

    This month marks 29 years since the birth of Squeak Smalltalk. That is nearly three decades of exploration, invention, and collaboration – all made possible by the ambition and generosity of those who have shaped Squeak over the years.

    On this occasion, it is fitting to pause and give thanks:

    • To those who, in the early years, had the vision and energy to create something enduring.
    • To those who continue to share insights and encouragement, answer questions, and work to resolve difficult issues on the mailing lists, sustaining collaboration and shared purpose.
    • To the programmers who work tirelessly on the system and the virtual machine, ensuring that Squeak remains robust, modern, and ready for the challenges ahead.
    • To the maintainers who incorporate patches and merges, smoothing the flow of progress and keeping the platform healthy.
    • To the unsung heroes who support the infrastructure, making sure our tools and resources are available and reliable.
    • To the academic community at large who continues to explore, teach, and contribute to Squeak.
    • To those who provide financial support, helping sustain the project and its infrastructure.
    • And to everyone else not mentioned in this brief list.

    Each contribution, whether large or small, has helped Squeak remain vibrant and resilient – a system that is both a playground for ideas and a platform for serious development.

    As we look forward to the next year, let this anniversary be a moment of encouragement. There is always more to explore, more to refine, and more to create together. Your help makes a difference and keeps Squeak a programming system that is a joy to use, where everything is available to see, understand, modify, and extend for any purpose. With 30 just around the corner, now is a good time to reflect that you make a difference, and that Squeak would not continue without the efforts of its community.

    Here’s to another year of invention, collaboration, and joy with Smalltalk and Squeaking!

  • Upcoming Smalltalks 2025 conference at Facultad de Ingeniería, UBA

    Upcoming Smalltalks 2025 conference at Facultad de Ingeniería, UBA

    The Smalltalks 2025 conference is coming soon! The conference will take place from November 5 to 7, 2025, at the Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA).

    When & Where

    • Dates: November 5-7, 2025
    • Location: Facultad de Ingeniería, UBA

    Registration & Call for Talks

    Registration for the event is now open (here), and participants are encouraged to secure their spot early. In addition, the call for talk proposals is available (here) – a great opportunity to share your work and ideas with the Smalltalk community.

    Sponsorship Opportunities

    Organizations interested in supporting the conference can explore the sponsorship options available (here). It is a chance to engage with the community while helping make the event possible.

    Stay tuned for more updates, and don’t miss out on one of the most exciting gatherings for the Smalltalk community!

    Have a great time with Smalltalk and keep on Squeaking!

  • Announcing the Multicast Project for Squeak

    Announcing the Multicast Project for Squeak

    Tony Garnock-Jones recently announced on the Squeak Developers mailing list (here) a new contribution to the Squeak community: Multicast, a project that brings UDP multicast socket support to Squeak.

    The project has been published on SqueakSource (here), where you can obtain the code and experiment with it directly. Tony also provided the file-in code with his announcement.

    What Does Multicast Do?

    Multicast provides the necessary support code for creating and using UDP multicast sockets within Squeak. This makes it possible for Squeak images to participate in group communication over networks – an important feature for distributed applications and collaborative tools. Check out the mailing list thread for more information on what multicasting does.

    Current Status and Platform Support

    • Tested on macOS: Initial testing has been done successfully.
    • Linux support: Testing is planned soon.
    • Windows users: Contributions are welcome – help testing Multicast on Windows would be especially valuable.

    Requirements

    To use Multicast, you will need:

    • A current Trunk version of Squeak
    • The SocketPlugin enabled

    How to Help

    Community involvement is encouraged! If you are running Squeak on Linux or Windows, testing Multicast and reporting results would be a great way to contribute.

    Have a great time with Smalltalk and keep on Squeaking!

    Photo by GuerrillaBuzz from Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-group-of-blue-lights-iFj_9n695ns

  • California Smalltalkers Meeting on Aug. 13: Craig Latta to Present His Work with Catalyst, a WASM-Based Smalltalk VM

    California Smalltalkers Meeting on Aug. 13: Craig Latta to Present His Work with Catalyst, a WASM-Based Smalltalk VM

    The California Smalltalkers meeting on August 13 at 7:00 p.m. PDT will feature a presentation by Craig Latta on his recent work with Catalyst, a WebAssembly GC (WASM GC) implementation of the Open Smalltalk virtual machine. Latta will share surprising results from experiments using AI models to dynamically translate Smalltalk methods into WASM functions.

    The talk will also examine the historical evolution of dynamic stack machine optimization and explore BNF-level optimizations enabled by the Epigram compilation framework.

    The meeting will additionally include community lightning talks, giving attendees an opportunity to highlight current projects and ideas. Participants are invited to draw inspiration from their peers, and those interested in giving a longer presentation in the future are encouraged to reach out to the organizers.

    To learn more or attend, visit the Meetup event page at:
    https://www.meetup.com/california-smalltalkers/events/308741033

    Have a great time with Smalltalk and keep on Squeaking!

  • Naming and Referencing Morphs in Squeak/Smalltalk

    Naming and Referencing Morphs in Squeak/Smalltalk

    Dr. Nicola Mingotti has released a new in-depth tutorial video that explores how to identify and name Morphs in the Squeak/Smalltalk environment. If you have ever wondered how to refer to a specific Morph – for example, how to say “make that Morph yellow” – this video walks you through several effective techniques.

    Throughout the video, you will learn how to use tools such as the object explorer and the workspace to better understand and interact with objects in Squeak. The tutorial introduces a variety of methods, including assigning names to Morphs, identifying them using properties such as identityHash and knownName, and inspecting objects with user interface tools that are not immediately obvious to new users.

    This tutorial is particularly useful for those who wish to go beyond the basics and gain more precise control over their Squeak projects. It also includes several helpful interface tips that may be difficult to discover independently.

    Check out the video here!

    Have a great time with Smalltalk and keep on Squeaking!