I wonder how similar the new VisualWorks "build up" packaging approach is to the way that Visual Smalltalk Enterprise (VSE), used to package systems? VSE's packaging system certainly was a build up approach. The challenge with "strip down packaging" is that you can potentially have a LOT of objects and classes in the image to strip down. I've always preferred a "build up" approach. In this approach you start with a base "run-time" (or development) Smalltalk image and add in the classes and objects that you need. In the strip down approach you remove what you don't need. In both cases you must ensure that you have everything that's needed to run your program in the newly packaged image. This means not forgetting anything or not excluding anything by accident. Fortuately there are tools that assist in this process that can automatically determine (with a high degree of accuracy) what is needed and that can include it for you. The current Squeak Smalltalk systems tend to use a "strip out" approach first and then a build up approach with the "Squeak Map" code distribution system. In any event, it's nice to have more packaging options available.

"One of the most common issues people have with Smalltalk is the difficulty in packaging - with this release, we will start supporting build up rather than strip down, with a standard deployment system."