OVITO: Visualization and data analysis software for particle-based simulations in physics, chemistry and materials research

基于粒子的模拟是计算物理、化学和工程科学的重要支柱。OVITO（www.ovito.org）是我们的开源可视化和数据分析软件，用于处理此类模拟的输出数据。近年来，它不断发展成为一个标准解决方案，目前在全球学术研究、教育和工业领域有超过130，000名活跃用户。一些研究学科严重依赖OVITO及其独特功能，但目前的状态是不可持续的，因为该软件迄今为止只有很少的志愿者开发和维护，而且没有资金。在该项目中，将采取必要步骤过渡到混合开源/商业许可模式，为大型用户社区的长期开发、维护和技术支持提供稳定和充足的资金。对用户和软件传播情况进行系统调查，将有助于指导进一步开发代码和二级服务。同时，若干措施有助于加强代码的开源协作开发，提高其整体质量，并吸引外部贡献者。

Particle-based simulations are an important pillar of computational physics, chemistry and engineering sciences. OVITO (www.ovito.org) is our open-source visualization and data analysis software for working with the output data from such simulations. In recent year, it has continuously evolved to become a standard solution that is currently employed by more than a 130,000 active users worldwide in academic research, education and industry. Several research disciplines heavily depend on OVITO and its unique features, but the current state is unsustainable, because the software has so far been developed and maintained only by very few volunteers and without funding. Within this project the necessary steps will be taken to make the transition to a hybrid open-source/commercial licensing model that can provide stable and sufficient funding for long-term development, maintenance, and technical support for the large user community. A systematic survey of the users and the software's dissemination will help to guide further development of code and secondary services. Simultaneously, several measures serve to strengthen the open-source collaborative development of the code, improve its overall quality, and attract external contributors.