[PRL] PL funding

[Matthias Felleisen]

Forwarded w/o permission and w/o attribution from a recent discussion  
on NSF's reorganization of funding w/i CISE and especially CCF. Can  
you explain to your grandmother/congress man what you're working on?

Begin forwarded message:

> There are many people in security who directly tackle problems that
> average people recognize (eg, Web security holes).
>
> There are many people in networking who directly tackle problems that
> average people recognize (eg, spam).
>
> There are many people in AI who directly tackle problems that average
> people recognize (eg, Google Maps Streetview).
>
> There are many people in SE who directly tackle problems that average
> people recognize (eg, bug-finding).
>
> There are many people in PL who directly tackle problems that average
> people recognize (eg, [please fill in here]).
>
> This hole is hard to fill in *in a direct parallel* to the above.  PL
> researchers can argue that they're designing the next generation of
> this and that...but what about the current generation of this or that?
> I'm fairly certain that where PL is involved, many claims about
> "designing the future" aren't about the future, they're about avoiding
> having to do anything about the present.