Misunderstood requirements preventing the use of OpenRefine

Community OpenRefine documentation
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I receive more and more messages from colleagues working in the GLAM sector, stating that they are not allowed to use OpenRefine for (sometimes) quite the strange reasons.

I will collect some "blockers" here and you may supplement them.

Maybe in the future we will have some FAQ or other document, where we can defuse these "blockers".

No particular order:

  • Entity has no Java License
  • Not allowed to install Java
  • Data is processed on the "internet"
  • It is a web app and therefore accessible from external computers
  • Opens ports on the host
  • No commercial support available
  • Unsafe because source code is openly available
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  • No painless way to easily backup and restore project files (another from an IT pro that just didn't like having to move a mouse too much, or manipulate ZIP files on his network)
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@b2m thanks for sharing.
What happens after you address their questions? Are they willing to install OpenRefine?

Iā€™m also curious about the backgrounds of the individuals raising these concerns. Are they the actual users, their managers, or representatives from the IT department of the institution?

We have a FAQ, but it combines various topics. I believe it would make more sense to split its content based on the user journey (pre-install, post-install, etc.).

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So the "usual" workflow is like this:

  1. People hear/see/watch OpenRefine and want to use it too.
  2. They ask their IT department for permission to use OpenRefine.
  3. IT department declines with one of the reasons above.
  4. People come back to me to ask for arguments to convince their IT department.

They ask for some "official source" for my claims that their IT department got some things about OpenRefine wrong.

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This is interesting; thank you for documenting it. I suggest we create a dedicated FAQ page specifically for IT department questions as part of our documentation. It should serve as a resource that users can easily reference and share with their IT department. This page could also encourage users to reach out to the community on the forum if they have additional questions.

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