A story about open knowledge sharing in space

It was eight years ago that I wrote a guide on how to correctly and reliably install NASA’s popular HEASoft software on Linux, a software which is extensively used in high energy Astrophysics research.

I wrote it because the official guides on NASA HEASoft’s website were failing to let us correctly install the software, particularly in setting all parameters correctly. But I found some way to reliably get it done through trial and error in installing the software from source in different ways.

I never ended up pursuing a career in Astrophysics research, and pivoted to space writing instead, but to this day I get emails from students and researchers alike that they find it useful. That has given me more satisfaction than any of my Astrophysics research might have probably. Open knowledge dissemination is at the heart of the Web.

Years later I had removed the post, thinking it won’t be reliable for latest Linux releases—and which I hadn’t tested against. Then I started getting emails saying the guide still works, and that they need to refer it for every new install..

And so I restored the guide and continued my passive contribution to Astrophysics research. 😄