Is there some way to know the user who down voted here? I wouldn't presume that was the case. Many users here might have downvoted your parent comment because it was terse and appeared combative rather than contributing to the conversation. I have found on HN it is best to enrich one's questions to avoid this look. I also did not detect anything passive aggressive in the 'why not', it's a fair enough initial response (even kept light with a smiley face!) - the good will was further demonstrated by continuing with an actual explanation instead of a snarky comment. It's the nature of online communication that we need to take a step back and take in a number of added variables before we jump to conclusions.

I think it's a variant of the Anthropic principle. This project has been around for many years, and if it hadn't been based on Smalltalk at the time, it might not have come into existence. It's a natural extension of how Smalltalk environments approach development tools, pushing it to a new level. For more technical details, refer to https://pharo.org/features.

My "why not" had a smiley next to it because it was meant as a joke. I am not sure what you mean by downvoting, but I did not mean to discourage your curiosity. I am sorry if it came out like that.

p.s. I learnt in the meantime that it's possible to downvote somehow (I still do not know how). But in this case, I actually upvoted you.