Path:!umich!yale!!!!wupost!udel!!!!hybl From: (Dr. Albert Hybl (UMAB-BIOPHYS)) Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran,sci.math,sci.research,bionet.general Subject: Re: Mainstream Academic Acceptance of USENET Summary: SB.272 High-Performance computing Keywords: Software Electronic Libraries Message-ID: <> Date: 30 Aug 91 23:03:28 GMT References: <26089119.17.47FC03@lehigh.bitnet> <> <> Sender: (News posting account) Organization: University of Maryland Baltimore County Lines: 72 Xref: comp.lang.fortran:5097 sci.math:15260 sci.research:1731 bionet.general:1634 I recommend that reader of this thread obtain a copy of Senate Bill S.272 titled "High-Performance computing Act of 1991." Let me quote some material from the Bill: "Sec. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The Congress finds the following: (1) Advances in computer science and technology are vital to the Nation's prosperity, national economic security and scientific advancement. ... (b) It is the purpose of Congress in the Act to help ensure the continued leadership of the United States in high-performance computing and its applications. This requires that the United States Government--(1) expand Federal support for research, development, and application of high-performance computing in order to-- ... (A) establish a high-capacity national research and education computer network; ... (C) develop an information infrastructure of data bases, services, access mechanisms, and research facilities which is available for use through such a national network; ... (E) promote the more rapid development and wider distribution of computer software tools and applications software; ... (H) invest in basic research and education ... Sec. 5. NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING PROGRAM ... (C) expand efforts to improve, document, and evaluate unclassified public-domain software developed by federally funded researchers and other software, including federally funded educational and training software; ... (F) distribute federally funded software to State and local government, industry and universities; ... (H) provide the technical support and research and development of high-performance computer software and hardware needed to address grand challenges in astrophysics, geophysics, engineering, materials, biochemistry, plasma physics, weather and climate forecasting, and other fields; (I) provide for educating and training additional undergraduate and graduate students in software engineering, computer science, and computational science; ..." Does this sound like the foundation for among other things a National Electronic Library--A very much expanded and improved USENET if you like? I have used the several times. There are many academic ftp site holding a vast amount of PD software of general interest to computer science; although documentation is sparse, I've accessed some of it. There are several site holding comp.sources.unix and comp.sources.misc containg good code. These are the model for what I suggested: network accessible PD scientific program libraries. For example, several national laboratories have large libraries of scientific program; I have found documents describing some of the collections. However, there is no ftp or netlib-like access to them. They could become the start of a network accessible PD scientific program collection. When can we see postings of general contents of government PD software and postings of how to get electronic access to more information about specific programs and postings of how to use electronic means to obtain copies of the source code. As for the Academic community, I think the posting of well document PD software should appear in a researchers CV and be regarded as an important contribution. Postings in or e-mail to the author containing reports of bugs and/or suggestions for improvements might result in a posting of program patches. Can you correct or expand a printed and bound journal article that easily? At present some academic researchers publish and sell their software. I wonder how profitable this is for the researcher. I suspect the for most academic software would not generate an adequate sales volume to justify its publication irrespective of how good it might otherwise be. Sincerely, A Hybl