[Esip-preserve] Stewardship Best Practices: availability of source code

[alicebarkstrom at frontier.com]

Here are some cases where source code availability
might get problematic:
1.  Data creation source code embedded in instrument
and satellite hardware, which is probably contracturally
the property of the contractor.  This software converts
analog signals to digital ones at the instrument level,
while the software that inserts digitized instrument data
into the satellite packets is usually done by satellite
software.  Interfaces for this work are documented as
part of the project documentation.
2.  Workflows that use commercial products, such as MATLAB,
might encounter proprietary limitations on the availability
of source code.  There is a possible morass of IPR stuff
that could go with this, including software patents.
3.  GIS software - noting that ESRI has patents on data
formats and other items.

One, more optimistic note is that the Library of Congress
has had some voice in Congress putting drop-dead time periods
on release of IPR.  As one might note, this approach is subject
to current legal battles, including prohibitions on reverse
engineering and the Google legal case on orphaned
book copying.  In a sense, it might be paraphrased as
Mickey Mouse's life as a Disney agent versus the need for
scholars to access material for the common good.

Bruce B.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert B. Cook" <cookrb at ornl.gov>
To: "Christopher S. Lynnes (GSFC-6102)" <christopher.s.lynnes at nasa.gov>
Cc: "ESIP Preservation cluster" <esip-preserve at rtpnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 11:48:40 AM
Subject: [Esip-preserve] Stewardship Best Practices: availability of source	code


I wanted to let you know that in practice the ORNL DAAC has been archiving and distributing source code for terrestrial biosphere models for several years.  The rationale for this practice can be found in the following Eos  article from 2005:
http://daac.ornl.gov/MODELS/EOS_Model_Archiving_Thornton.pdf

The ORNL DAAC's archive of model source code can be found on our Web site:
http://daac.ornl.gov/models.shtml

Another approach for keeping track of processing steps is scientific workflow, such as Taverna, VisTrails, and Kepler (Science Pipes).

Best wishes,
Bob

On Oct 6, 2010, at 9:01 AM, Lynnes, Christopher S. (GSFC-6102) wrote:

> On Oct 6, 2010, at 7:25 AM, Curt Tilmes wrote:
> 
>> Looking over this a bit:
>> 
>> http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/Interagency_Data_Stewardship/Principles
>> 
>> Here are some, perhaps controversial, proposals for addition:
>> 
>> Data Creators:
>> 
>> will release all software used in the processing of data used in
>> scientific research. Even if the rights to use that software are
>> restricted it should at least be available for inspection.
> 
> You mean the source code here, right?
> 
> While I applaud the intent, I can say (from personal experience) that navigating the legal / procedural labyrinth for any source code release is so time-consuming that this is currently impractical in many cases.  
> 
> To really make this workable, it would be helpful to get some kind of agency-level exemption to some of the standard release requirements for science processing code. A process similar to the NASA Document Availability Authorization would be more workable.
> 
> I wonder, is this as much an issue in the other agencies, like NOAA, USGS and EPA?
> --
> Dr. Christopher Lynnes    NASA/GSFC, Code 610.2, Greenbelt, MD 20771
> Phone: 301-614-5185
> 
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