canSAS-XI/Software

Discussion session on Software

Chair : Paul Butler

Session Plenary Overview : Water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

Sven-Jannick Wöhnert : <<dpdak slides go here>>

Session Notes

The session began with a presentation by Sven-Jannick Wöhnert on dpdak

Highlights from the discussion include:

• It seems that there are a number of packages that are being developed with similar plugin architectures in python
  • A true monoculture is probably not healthy
  • But there does seem to be an insatiable and unstoppable need for everyone to re-invent the wheel. **Question:** what drives that?
    • Desire to be able to respond to ones users in a timely fashion? --> collaborative software development?
    • Desire to get recognition by doing something believed to be better?
    • Perhaps biggest may be lack of good understanding of what exists and/or how to collaborate on it?
• Dissemination should work on reaching instrument scientists and potential developers as well as users about what is already there
  • Lots of “advertising needs”
  • Youtube for users but also beamline scientists
  • Add citations and activity etc for packages on canSAS portal page
• Scriptable packages in python gives first go at correlation
• Securing funding for long term maintenance and funding
  • Can we reposition analysis software as infrastructure. In europe there is an evolving new infrastructure funding model which would support infrastructure indefinitely (presumably as long as it is a useful infrastructure?)
    • PANOSC and ???
  • Alternatively Facilities presumably have a need for users to have adequate analysis software. Problem is prohibitive cost. So can we bring the costs into a realistic range?
    • This would probably require collaboratively maintaining and developing the critical packages and/or infrastructure. That would require getting everyone with any effort in SAS analysis software identified and together to discuss “infrastructure” support models.
• 3D pictures needed or our community becomes road kill
• Use molecular simulation and correlation analysis. ML could also help
• Get packages to take “STEP files” and convert to scattering
• Workflows for focused problems that give you the 3 parameters that you want
• Networking grants a great idea and some effort since last canSAS but need grants to do actual work.

Google Doc With Notes

Actions

• Video tutorials for selecting software program(s) - Assigned to: TBD
• Smallangle.org: Separate out highly used software and mark supported vs unsupported - Assigned to: TBD
• Software usage across different facilities - Assigned to: TBD