Open source

[Kara R]

Hi there,

when I visited LBL in 2016 you envisaged to make the source code of THERM available for anyone to develop further in the near future. Has this eventuated and I missed it? If not: is this still on the books? 

Cheers
Kara

[Robin Mitchell/LBNL]

It is still on our "list of things to do" but it is a very involved process, and it is going to take us a while to get there.

Robin 

[Chris Mackey]

Thank you for this response, Robin.

I just wanted to add as someone who has been developing open source software for a few years now that I have found the mantra of "release early, release often"  is particularly relevant for opening source code.  In other words, there can be unavoidable logistics with opening the code and these have to be overcome but I would not worry about cleaning up the code or doing any fancy documentation for an open source release.  The people who are motivated enough to delve into the source code are also motivated enough to teach themselves without extra these extra aids.  In the grand scheme of things, the fact that one has released is much more important than the small logistics.

You might also find that, after doing such a release, there will be people who are willing to help with some of the logistics (especially documentation).  Along those lines, if you would ever like some help setting up a github repository for THERM or with any other logistics related to a code release, I am happy to help where I can.

Thanks again,

-Chris

[Robin Mitchell/LBNL]

What we have done for the WINDOW program, to date, is to open source the calculation engine but not the entire program including the GUI. We will probably pursue a similar course with THERM.

Robin