Should software conferences respect software?

A new trend in software engineering and programming language conferences is to investigate the reproducibility of research results. This trend has led to the creation of Artifact Evaluation Committees at several conferences, including OOPSLA this year. What is the motive behind these committees? How should they be structured? Do they help? Can they hurt? And should software be given more respect, at least at conferences devoted to the study of software, or should papers remain supreme? These are some of the questions that addressed in this panel. Shriram Krishanamurthi argues in favor of the new process and James Noble plays devil's advocate. The panel is moderated by Jan Vitek.