FLOSS/FLOSS in Science Research Agenda

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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.