How to support open-source software and stay sane

We need to talk about the lack of investment in digital research infrastructure

“…The image caught the attention of lay and scientific communities on a global scale, and the discovery itself was described as something "presumed impossible just a generation ago" 7 . However, few were interested in the software underpinning the image to the extent that, within five days of the image being breaking news, the US National Science Foundation denied them further funding to support, maintain and develop the software since it did not have a "sufficient impact" 8 . Fortunately, the team persisted, and their code appears to still be maintained 9 , but what happens when groups can't do this work pro bono (even if only for a short time until the next grant can be secured)?…”

Better together: Elements of successful scientific software development in a distributed collaborative community

“…(2) data collection on conference demographics; (3) invited platform speakers at RosettaCon to discuss diversity topics (Karen Fleming on gender equity, John Matsui on diversity 101, Joyce Yen on leadership and measuring inclusion); (4) networking/mentoring events at Roset-taCon for women and members of minority groups; (5) RosettaCommons climate survey and follow-up small group discussions at RosettaCon resulting in recommendations and new actionable items; (6) dependent-care grants to support parents to attend Rosetta meetings; (7) conference housing matchups considering non-binary gender; (8) collecting resources for career development and personal well-being.…”

“…Thus, many scientists implement their workflows in transient scripts or programs focused only on addressing an immediate concern. These programs often lack generality, extensibility, code comments, or documentation, and can be difficult to integrate with other methods [7]. The general lack of documentation or example workflows ("protocol captures" [8,9]) further diminishes reproducibility and usability [10,11].…”

bertha: Project skeleton for scientific software

“…In a recent essay in Nature [1], a familiar dilemma in science was addressed. On the one hand, science relies heavily on open-source software packages such as libraries for mathematical operations, implementations of numerical methods, or data analysis tools.…”