How to get physicists to maintain physics-oriented libraries?

[lgray]

In order for physicists engaged in research to maintain repositories with highly physics oriented code (c.f. fastjet) for the scikit-hep ecosystem, that code needs to be easily to engage with from a maintenance perspective because our research grants are for science and not code maintenance. Similarly, once the package is easily maintainable, it's easier for students/postdocs/etc. to engage with developing new algorithms for physics and doing that science.

• How can we better incentivize people to help get packages which are not in this state, into this state?

• How can we positively incentivize keeping that code maintainable once it is?

• Since these are not experimental collaboration frameworks, the apparent critical mass for maintainers is not there. However, the user base for many of these packages (or their pure C++/fortran parts) is quite large. We can certainly access those people to help!