FLOSS/FLOSS in Science Research Agenda

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  1. FLOSS and Science
    • Users and Usability
      • Why do users choose to use FLOSS when there is equivalent commercial software available? (cost, freedom to adapt and share, freedom to tinker, ...)
        • Evaluating GNU/Linux as a platform for scientists (freedom, transparency, verifiability, ...)
      • Are the users satisfied with the usability of the FLOSS they use for science (irrespective of whether it is included in ScUbunu or not)?
      • What are the user priorities with respect to FLOSS for science? Adaptability, verifiability, price, freedom, support, training, community, etc. ?
      • Trends in scientific software usage - towards/away from FLOSS? Reasons?
      • Categorising researchers and their software needs.
    • Community, ethics and Philosophy
      • Do scientists choose FLOSS on account of its philosophy of freedom, openness and transparency in the spirit of good science? (trends)
      • Are there strong communities around specific FLOSS for science projects?
        • What factors contribute to the strength of these communities? (champions, size of the community, software cool-factor, ...?)
        • What is the nature of these communities (of scientists, developers and combinations)?
    • Pragmatics and development
      • What issues are users facing with their most used applications, and how are they dealing with them?
      • Development methodology at the application level.
        • Community development processes (around specific applications and commonalities with other applications)
        • Tools to support these processes.