OneSciencePlace is built on open-source software and open standards. A broader public release of the unified distribution is a key objective of our ongoing development and a central commitment of our current funding efforts.

Current status: managed deployment available; open distribution is planned.
 

Why open source

Open-source distribution reflects our commitment to academic transparency, reproducibility, and long-term community sustainability. It also enables institutions with self-hosting requirements or policy constraints to deploy OSP on their own infrastructure and contribute to its development.

Scope of the Open Distribution

The following components are planned for the initial public release: 

  • Commonly used applications (Jupyter, RStudio, Linux Desktop, and others).
  • Core web application and user interface.
  • App runtime and container launch system (single-port web apps; GUI via embedded VNC/DCV/Xpra in the container).
  • Identity connectors (OIDC/SAML, LDAP) and per-system identity mapping.
  • Compute integration for standalone VMs/hosts (no scheduler) and Slurm clusters.
  • Data integration for POSIX and S3/object; policy-based job archiving.
  • FAIR publishing components (metadata and DOIs).
  • Documentation.
  • See roadmap and vision

Some provider-specific operational tooling and automation may remain part of the managed deployment.

OneSciencePlace integrates with established open-source platforms including Tapis. The system architecture reflects lessons learned from prior community efforts such as Hubzero, SeedMeLab, CIPRES, Apache Airavata, and Tapis. 

Community Governance

The public repository will include:

  • Issue tracking
  • Contribution guidelines
  • Roadmap visibility
  • Structured security disclosure process

Governance structures are being established in alignment with open, community-driven research infrastructure principles. Release milestones are aligned with funded development phases and institutional collaboration. 

Self-Hosted vs Managed Deployment

The planned open distribution will enable institutional self-hosting. The managed deployment option provides infrastructure operations, upgrades, monitoring, and security hardening. Both paths are supported — the right choice depends on your institution's infrastructure, staffing, and policy requirements. We are happy to help you evaluate which fits best.

Ready to collaborate or discuss early access? Contact the OSP team

Want to understand how OSP is deployed today? Explore projects and deployments