Programming languages and publicly available source code at CSIRO
Dear Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation,
I request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(1). Any documents detailing the software programming languages used by particular projects or initiatives of CSIRO.
(2). Any documents listing or mentioning software programs or libraries developed by or in conjunction with CSIRO, the source code of which has been made publicly available (whether or not the code was released under a recognised Free Software or Open Source license).
I recognise that it may be necessary to redact or omit documents in relation to projects that have not been publicly announced. This is acceptable, but in the event that this occurs, I further request:
(3). Any documents detailing the number of projects (and if possible the languages they are using) removed from the scope of part (1) of this request due to the project not having been publicly announced, including documents produced during the execution of this request.
I recognise that it may be necessary to redact or omit documents in relation to publicly announced projects of a highly sensitive nature. This is acceptable, but in the event that this occurs, I further request:
(4). Any documents listing the names of the projects removed from the scope of part (1) of this request due to the project being of a highly sensitive nature, including documents produced during the execution of this request.
Yours faithfully,
Fraser Tweedale
Dear Mr Tweedale
Please refer to the attached correspondence acknowledging receipt of your freedom of information request.
Kind regards
KAREN ROBINSON
Legal Administrative Officer (FOI), CSIRO
Phone: +61 2 6276 6431
[email address] | www.csiro.au
Postal Address: GPO Box 1700, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
My working hours are 9.30am to 3:00pm Monday to Thursday
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Our ref: FOI 2017/20
Dear Mr Tweedale,
Please refer to the attached correspondence.
I note, CSIRO can provide you, outside the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), information in relation to the
common software languages used by CSIRO.
CSIRO can also provide information in relation to CSIRO Data Access
Portal, including the source codes used, see e.g.
[1]https://data.csiro.au/dap/acknowledgements
Please do respond if this sort information would address your request; if
yes, you need not respond to the attached s 24AB(2) notice, and CSIRO
would provide this information to you administratively (that is outside
the FOI Act).
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Beth Maloney
Legal Counsel, CSIRO
Phone: +612 6276 6436 | [mobile number]
[2][email address] | [3]www.csiro.au
Address: CSIRO Corporate Centre
PO Box 225
DICKSON ACT 2602 Australia
Please note: I am in the office on Monday,Thursday and Friday.
PLEASE NOTE
The information contained in this email may be confidential or privileged.
Any unauthorised use or disclosure is prohibited. If you have received
this email in error, please delete it immediately and notify the sender by
return email. Thank you. To the extent permitted by law, CSIRO does not
represent, warrant and/or guarantee that the integrity of this
communication has been maintained or that the communication is free of
errors, virus, interception or interference.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
References
Visible links
1. https://data.csiro.au/dap/acknowledgements
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.csiro.au/
Dear Ms Maloney,
Re: FOI 2017/20
Thank you for the notice of intention. I would like to revise my request, limiting it to
part (2) of the original request and further limiting it to currently active projects, i.e.:
``Documents listing or mentioning software programs or libraries developed by or in conjunction with CSIRO, the source code of which has been made publicly available (whether or not the code was released under a recognised Free Software or Open Source license), where the relevant project or initiative is currently active (2017-08-21).''
Yours faithfully,
Fraser Tweedale
Dear Mr Tweedale,
Thank your email, unfortunately the revised scope does not limit the scope of the request.
You have requested all documents "listing or mentioning" etc. This would capture, for example, thousands of documents that discuss CSIRO's data access portal.
Similarly, CSIRO's Data61 program would have thousands of documents mentioning software programs as described in the scope of you request, including emails discussing the software program, correspondence in relation to the program and etc.
As a starting point, could you narrow your request to a listing of software programs developed by a specific area in CSIRO? E.g. Data61? And exclude the words "all documents mentioning" the programs?
Kind regards,
Beth Maloney
Legal Counsel, CSIRO
Phone: +612 6276 6436 | [mobile number]
[email address] | www.csiro.au
Address: CSIRO Corporate Centre
PO Box 225
DICKSON ACT 2602 Australia
Please note: I am in the office on Monday,Thursday and Friday.
PLEASE NOTE
The information contained in this email may be confidential or privileged. Any unauthorised use or disclosure is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete it immediately and notify the sender by return email. Thank you. To the extent permitted by law, CSIRO does not represent, warrant and/or guarantee that the integrity of this communication has been maintained or that the communication is free of errors, virus, interception or interference.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Dear Ms Maloney,
Thank you for your advice and for bearing with me as we work towards a scope
that is focused enough to execute. I do not wish to limit the request to a specific
division of CSIRO, but perhaps this revised request is an improvement:
``Documents containing lists or tables bearing the names of computer programs or software libraries developed by or in conjunction with CSIRO, where the source code of those programs or libraries has been made publicly available, and where the relevant project or initiative is currently active (2017-08-21).''
Explanatory remarks:
- "Source code" is a collection of computer instructions in a human-readable programming
language, used to produce a computer program. In most cases source code is "compiled"
into an executable computer program or a "library" of subroutines. Compiled programs are
typically not human-readable and may be executed or distributed independently from the
source code that was used to produce (compile) the program.
- If a "compiled" computer program or library was released to the public or used in the
provision of some publicly accessible service, but the source code from which that program
or library was produced has not been made publicly available, that program or library is
not of interest.
- If the source code of a program or library has been made publicly available,
that program or library is of interest, regardless of the license under which the
source code was conveyed.
- My request is now for documents that contain lists or tables of computer programs and
libraries meeting these criteria.
- Computer programs and libraries that were developed by projects or initiatives of CSIRO
that are not currently active, are excluded from the scope of the request.
Yours faithfully,
Fraser Tweedale
Dear Mr Tweedale,
Please refer to the attached decision.
Kind regards,
Beth Maloney
Legal Counsel, CSIRO
Phone: +612 6276 6436 | [mobile number]
[email address] | www.csiro.au
Address: CSIRO Corporate Centre
PO Box 225
DICKSON ACT 2602 Australia
Please note: I am in the office on Monday,Thursday and Friday.
PLEASE NOTE
The information contained in this email may be confidential or privileged. Any unauthorised use or disclosure is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete it immediately and notify the sender by return email. Thank you. To the extent permitted by law, CSIRO does not represent, warrant and/or guarantee that the integrity of this communication has been maintained or that the communication is free of errors, virus, interception or interference.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.