Journal of Data Science

When computations such as statistical simulations need to be carried out on a high performance computing (HPC) cluster, typical questions arise among researchers or practitioners. How do I interact with a HPC cluster? Do I need to type a long host name and also a password on every single login or file transfer? Why does my locally working code not run anymore on the HPC cluster? How can I install the latest versions of software on a HPC cluster to match my local setup? How can I submit a job and monitor its progress? This tutorial provides answers to such questions with experiments on an example HPC cluster.

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of patterns and trends in the open-source software (OSS) contributions by the U.S. federal government agencies. OSS is a unique category of computer software notable for its publicly accessible source code and the rights it provides for modification and distribution for any purpose. Prompted by the Federal Source Code Policy (USCIO, 2016), Code.gov was established as a platform to facilitate the sharing of custom-developed software across various federal government agencies. This study leverages data from Code.gov, which catalogs OSS projects developed and shared by government agencies, and enhances this data with detailed development and contributor information from GitHub. By adopting a cost estimation methodology that is consistent with the U.S. national accounting framework for software investment proposed in Korkmaz et al. (2024), this research provides annual estimates of investment in OSS by government agencies for the 2009–2021 period. The findings indicate a significant investment by the federal government in OSS, with the 2021 investment estimated at around $407 million. This study not only sheds light on the government’s role in fostering OSS development but also offers a valuable framework for assessing the scope and value of OSS initiatives within the public sector.