Hello,

I contacted our digital scholars lab at the University of Miami, here is their response:

Good questions, what do we do here …in the digital scholars lab??

At IDSC we have a standard list of packages on the supercomputers and if a researcher wants a non-installed package, they have to make a request and we do the vetting before installing … then it becomes available to everyone …

Note that maintaining a package list on a supercomputer (one) is easier than maintaining packages on lab machines (many).


Charles




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Best Regards,

Charles Brown-Roberts

Application Software Developer II

University of Miami
Web and Application Development, Richter Library

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Book time with Brown-Roberts, Charles Glen<[log in to unmask]&ep=pcard" target="_blank">https:[log in to unmask]&ep=pcard>



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From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Wil Blake <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 9:07 AM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] OpenRefine - seeking advice for institutional devices

Does your IT environment include a separate DMZ or VLAN "sandbox" for "untrusted" institutional devices, and can you temporarily use OpenRefine in an "untrusted" capacity while the Defender compatibility issue sorts itself out?

Does your IT environment support Linux (or Mac OSX or a HyperV VM Guest) and can the OpenRefine Linux (or MacOS) version meet both the CPE requirements and your needs? The OpenRefine Linux version might run alongside Windows in a Microsoft WSL2 or HyperV Linux Guest OS.

Working with institutional security requirements is a never-ending saga for developers, researchers, archivists, etc. I do understand the need to avoid costly and embarrassing security breaches, though sometimes security constraints appear rather arbitrary. Your collaborative approach is a good long term play to maintain relationships and establish a groundwork for compliant software installation in the future.


Good luck,

Wil Blake