Virtualization of the operating system is also taking place. Most languages written this decade do not talk directly to the underlying system. Instead, the language is intended to run a virtual machine that in turn performs the execution at the lowest level.
Virtual machines virtualize the processor, not the operating system.
Leaving aside the nitpicking, the basic argument appears to be that imperative languages will be replaced with "standardized abstract declarative descriptions". Of course, these are just another kind of programming language.
I don't think he's referring to "virtual machines" (which I think tend to run one operating system 'within' another (ergo much more than the processor)).
He's talking about programming languages which generally run in a virtual machine (e.g. the JVM) or other interpreted environments (e.g. ruby, javascript, et.al).
I found this a difficult read, and difficult to draw a conclusion from. I think partially because I think the title is quite misleading - it should be "how will languages evolve?".
Also, it's surprising that this article doesn't touch on the Semantic Web; which is clearly one of the initiatives that is key to all of this... Although he does mention the important of ontologies.
Right now I don't buy the premise that we'll just be wiring (mashing) together components in any near future.
Yes, it was a bit longer than necessary to make his point. I think the general point is that programming is more about information and system architecture and less about the details of one particular language. I tend to agree with this view.
I agree that RDF and the semantic web folks are also working on related concepts (as are the PBEL / web-services folks). The programming landscape seems to be changing faster and faster, so I do think that we will end up with several good meta-programming environments in the near future.
Brooks somewhere notes that the only/best candidate for a 'silver bullet' is reuse -- and I see that as the backbone of the article, or at least the proposed vision. Essential complexity cannot be eliminated, of course, but it can be avoided -- and that can be done more effectively.
Virtual machines virtualize the processor, not the operating system.
Leaving aside the nitpicking, the basic argument appears to be that imperative languages will be replaced with "standardized abstract declarative descriptions". Of course, these are just another kind of programming language.