Related papers: "The Law Doesn't Work Like a Computer": Exploring …
Most scientists need software to perform their research (Barker et al., 2020; Carver et al., 2022; Hettrick, 2014; Hettrick et al., 2014; Switters and Osimo, 2019), and neuroscientists are no exception. Whether we work with reaction times,…
To legitimize itself as a scientific discipline, the software engineering academic community must let go of its non-empirical dogmas. A dogma is belief held regardless of evidence. This paper analyzes the nature and detrimental effects of…
Many AI companies are training their large language models (LLMs) on data without the permission of the copyright owners. The permissibility of doing so varies by jurisdiction: in countries like the EU and Japan, this is allowed under…
This work aims at discussing the complexity aspect of software while demonstrating its relationship with security. Complexity is an essential part of software; however, numerous studies indicate that they increase the vulnerability of the…
Legal practice is intrinsically rooted in the fabric of language, yet legal practitioners and scholars have been slow to adopt tools from natural language processing (NLP). At the same time, the legal system is experiencing an access to…
What is the impact of software engineering research on current practices in industry? In this paper, I report on my direct experience as a PhD/post-doc working in software engineering research projects, and then spending the following five…
A tenet of open source software development is to accept contributions from users-developers (typically after appropriate vetting). But should this also include interventions done as part of research on open source development? Following an…
Background: Open Source Software (OSS) is often seen as an option to mitigate risks of lock-ins. Yet, single-vendor OSS can still result in soft lock-ins due to knowledge asymmetries and technical barriers. Aim: This study explores actors…
Legal issues have risen with the changing landscape of computing, especially when the service, data and infrastructure is not owned by the user. With the Cloud, the question arises as to who is in the possession of the data. The Cloud…
Traditionally the integration of data from multiple sources is done on an ad-hoc basis for each analysis scenario and application. This is a solution that is inflexible, incurs in high costs, leads to "silos" that prevent sharing data…
Cloud computing represents a major shift in information systems architecture, combining both new deployment models and new business models. Rapid provisioning, elastic scaling, and metered usage are essential characteristics of cloud…
Generative AI coding assistants (ACAs) are widely adopted yet pose serious legal and compliance risks. ACAs can generate code governed by restrictive open-source licenses (e.g., GPL), potentially exposing companies to litigation or forced…
Open source software (OSS) vulnerabilities threaten the security of software systems that use OSS. Vulnerability databases provide valuable information (e.g., vulnerable version and patch) to mitigate OSS vulnerabilities. There arises a…
Open Source Software (OSS) has been widely used in the educational environment largely due to its reduced cost of ownership. While OSS has evolved over the years, challenges exist in its implementation and wide adoption. Foremost among…
Software logs, generated during the runtime of software systems, are essential for various development and analysis activities, such as anomaly detection and failure diagnosis. However, the presence of sensitive information in these logs…
This paper explores the issues around the construction of large-scale complex systems which are built as 'systems of systems' and suggests that there are fundamental reasons, derived from the inherent complexity in these systems, why our…
Open Source Software (OSS) history is traced to initial efforts in 1971 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab, the initial goals of OSS around Free vs. Freedom, and its evolution and impact on…
Building software that can support the huge growth in data and computation required by modern research needs individuals with increasingly specialist skill sets that take time to develop and maintain. The Research Software Engineering…
Modern science is relying on software more than ever. The behavior and outcomes of this software shape the scientific and public discourse on important topics like climate change, economic growth, or the spread of infections. Most…
Incorporating machine learning (ML) components into software products raises new software-engineering challenges and exacerbates existing challenges. Many researchers have invested significant effort in understanding the challenges of…