Listening, learning, and building together: what we heard at our SciPy 2025 BoF

Attendees from different scientific backgrounds actively participate in a BoF discussion, sharing experiences from across the research software ecosystem.

At SciPy 2025 in July, pyOpenSci hosted a Birds of a Feather session focused on packaging challenges in research software.

Rather than giving another talk or demo, we created a space to listen. Building on themes from our earlier blog about the social side of packaging, we invited folks into a Birds of a Feather (BoF) session centered on one big question:

What are your biggest pain points when it comes to sharing and maintaining research software—and what should pyOpenSci focus on next?

💬 What’s a BoF?

A “Birds of a Feather” (BoF) session is an informal gathering where people with shared interests come together to discuss a topic—no slides, no lectures, just real conversation. At SciPy, our BoF served as a chance to connect, surface ideas, and shape the future of open science together.

The goal wasn’t to walk away with a perfect roadmap. It was to get honest input from people across the scientific open source ecosystem, like maintainers, researchers, tool builders, educators, and curious newcomers. We wanted to surface the real-world friction points that often get lost in documentation or conference talks. These aren’t just isolated issues—they’re patterns that affect how research software gets built, shared, cited, and sustained.

And wow, did people show up!

We kicked things off with a few warm-up questions, then broke into small groups for deeper discussion. Each group used Mentimeter to log their thoughts in real time, so we could capture the full range of ideas. Some responses were serious. Others were playful (one response to “What’s hardest about packaging your code?” was simply: “cats” 😹). But across it all, real patterns emerged!

Here’s what we heard and how it’s shaping where we go from here.