Publication Data
The Need for Open Source Software in Machine Learning
Abstract: Open source tools have recently reached a level of maturity
which makes them suitable for building large-scale real-world systems. At the same
time, the field of machine learning has developed a large body of powerful learning
algorithms for diverse applications. However, the true potential of these methods is
not utilized, since existing implementations are not openly shared, resulting in
software with low usability, and weak interoperability. We argue that this situation
can be significantly improved by increasing incentives for researchers to publish their
software under an open source model. Additionally, we outline the problems authors are
faced with when trying to publish algorithmic implementations of machine learning
methods. We believe that a resource of peer reviewed software accompanied by short
articles would be highly valuable to both the machine learning and the general
scientific community.
