[e-lang] Upgrade, Legacy (was: E research topics)

[Mark S. Miller]

Mark S. Miller wrote:
> * Safe Serialization Under Mutual Suspicion 
> <http://erights.org/data/serial/jhu-paper/>.

I wanted to call your attention specifically to the upgrade issues touched on 
at <http://erights.org/data/serial/jhu-paper/upgrade.html>. This is probably 
the second most pressing unsolved problem area standing in the way of large 
scale deployment of E-like systems.

The first most pressing practical problem area is legacy compatibility. We 
have many partial answers: taming + static verification, rehosting, Polaris, 
Plash, virtualization, Tyler's many tricks making crypto capabilities 
compatible with web standards, etc. However, currently, we have no general way 
to think about what these various techniques might have in common, or how to 
handle the next legacy compatibility problem that comes up. This may the most 
important area in which to make a contribution, but also might be the hardest 
to get academic recognition for.

-- 
Text by me above is hereby placed in the public domain

     Cheers,
     --MarkM