Report on the "The Future of the Shell" Panel at HotOS 2021

Abstract

This document summarizes the challenges and possible research directions around the shell and its ecosystem, collected during and after the HotOS21 Panel on the future of the shell. The goal is to create a snapshot of what a number of researchers from various disciplines-connected to the shell to varying degrees-think about its future. We hope that this document will serve as a reference for future research on the shell and its ecosystem. WHAT WAS "THE FUTURE OF THE SHELL" PANEL?Michael Greenberg, Konstantinos Kallas, and Nikos Vasilakis organized and ran a panel titled "The Future of the Shell: Unix and Beyond" at HotOS XVIII on June 3rd, 2021, from 1pm to 2:30pm ET [10]. The entire event was virtual due to COVID-19, held on Zoom (with support from Slack and a shared Google Doc for notes).The goal of the event was to suggest the shell as an area worthy of attention and research, using discussions to find themes and problems. As a conversation starter, the event was closely coupled to a position paper published by the panel's organizers in the same venue and presented the day before, highlighting key recent enablers and open problems in the shell [11]. By bringing together researchers and engineers from disparate communities-e.g., systems, languages, security-the event aimed to explore and highlight impactful research directions around the shell.