Higher Education and Research Forges in France – Definition, uses, limitations encountered and needs analysis is a guide to software forges in French Higher Education and Research establishments which describes their uses, limitations and future requirements.

This guide was produced by the Committee for Open Science’s Software and Source Codes College. It also identifies a number of points regarding current practices that require particular attention.

Software forges have become an essential tool for the development of software, the collaborative writing of their documentation, scientific articles or web pages and also for sharing models. Software forges have gradually turned into an actual social network for software developers, contributors and users. Choosing the right forge for the target audience and network is an essential step for anyone aiming to encourage the use of and contributions to a project.

This choice is very significant whether the solution selected is commercial, community-based, national or self-hosted by a Higher Education and Research institution. It is therefore important to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the solutions available.