[…] Computer Science is firstly the study of computation, algorithms and their implementation and verification. In terms of the methods employed, the four books agree there are three separate traditions: a mathematical tradition, an engineering tradition and an empirical scientific tradition. The disciplinary boundaries of Computer Science are redrawn in each of the books, emphasizing mathematical, qualitative and empirical work over other forms of knowing. This paper also aims to ask the question what potential aspects of computer science that are currently undone. Which research methods are we not using due to the focus on mathematical, engineering or scientific reasoning? What research questions fall outside of the scope of current Computer Science? And are we as computer scientists influencing the world of computers and beyond enough?

Felienne Hermans
How The Social Construction of Disciplinary Boundaries and Disciplinary Hierarchies Shapes What Computer Science Gets Done (https://doi.org/10.4000/16956)

What are the core topics of Computer Science, and how are these topics studied? Those are the central questions of the Philosophy of Computer Science. However, how those questions are to be answered is a matter of ongoing debate and social construction. Guided by the questions answered by Shirley Gregor in her seminal work on theory in the field of Information Systems, this paper aims to understand how contemporary work on the philosophy of Computer Science answers these questions. In particular, we examine four recent books explicitly examining the topics and methodologies of Computer Science. While each of the books takes a different perspective and uses a different approach, all of them reach similar conclusions: […] ⤵️

Pierre Depaz
Global and Local Implications of Computational Artifacts (https://doi.org/10.4000/16955)

This article investigates the undone science of software scalability. Software engineering literature focuses on the multiple ways that software can scale up, but too rarely on the possibilities, or necessities, of making it scale down. Drawing from geographical studies, we hypothesize that scales are constructed, rather than given, and argue that the design and use of specific computational artifacts—programming languages, data structures and protocols—are active participants in such material construction. Through a series of case studies, we discuss how computational artifacts can realize computing at both local and global scales.

Sophie Quinton and Jean-Bernard Stefani
Conviviality for Digital Degrowth (https://doi.org/10.4000/16954)

Our digital societies bear the hallmarks of non-convivial technologies as identified more than fifty years ago by Ivan Illich in his seminal book Tools for Conviviality (1973). In a context of ecosystemic and socio-economical crises, we argue in this paper that Illich’s ideas remain remarkably relevant, not only for understanding the negative effects of digital technologies but also as guidelines for embedding digital technologies in a degrowth scenario. As computer scientists, we therefore propose a research agenda for developing design for conviviality, a strongly normative value sensitive approach to the design of digital artefacts and systems. We discuss in particular two examples, digital infrastructures and business process management, which seem to be very much in need of a convivial rethinking.

Pierre Saint-Germier, Benjamin Matuszewski and Frédéric Bevilacqua
Machine Learning, Understanding, and Interaction (https://doi.org/10.4000/16953)

High-performance machine learning models generally suffer from a lack of transparency that calls into question the ability of humans to understand how they work. Through the study of CoMo, an interactive learning system that allows users to associate sounds and gestures, we show that a form of model understanding can emerge from user-model interactions. This interactive approach offers an alternative to explanation- and interpretation-based epistemologies. Although data- and computation-intensive deep learning systems are not well suited to this form of interactivity, shallow learning models offer underappreciated epistemological advantages in contexts where machine learning can be made interactive.

Chantal Enguehard, Guillaume Munch-Maccagnoni and Alberto Naibo
Qu’est-ce que la science informatique non faite ? (https://doi.org/10.4000/16952)
What is ‘undone computer science’? (English translation, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.26084)

The concept of 'undone science' emerged in the 2010s in research in social sciences at the intersection of studies on social movements and of science and technology studies. It refers to research questions that are neglected, ignored, or left unfunded, even though they deserve to be explored. The aim of this special issue is to apply this concept to computer science, by examining whether the way this discipline is structured (including its sociological, economic, and political dimensions), as well as the paradigms that shape it, make it possible to identify epistemological and ethical questions that are crucial for its development and conception.

We are happy to announce that the special issue
Philosophia Scientiæ 30(2): Undone Computer Science
has now appeared in print (Éditions Kimé, Paris) and online by OpenEditions (https://doi.org/10.4000/16959).

Guest editors: Chantal Enguehard, Guillaume Munch-Maccagnoni and Alberto Naibo.

Contents

1. Chantal Enguehard, Guillaume Munch-Maccagnoni and Alberto Naibo
Qu’est-ce que la science informatique non faite ? (https://doi.org/10.4000/16952)
What is ‘undone computer science’? (English translation, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.26084)

2. Pierre Saint-Germier, Benjamin Matuszewski and Frédéric Bevilacqua
Machine Learning, Understanding, and Interaction (https://doi.org/10.4000/16953)

3. Sophie Quinton and Jean-Bernard Stefani
Conviviality for Digital Degrowth (https://doi.org/10.4000/16954)

4. Pierre Depaz
Global and Local Implications of Computational Artifacts (https://doi.org/10.4000/16955)

5. Felienne Hermans
How The Social Construction of Disciplinary Boundaries and Disciplinary Hierarchies Shapes What Computer Science Gets Done (https://doi.org/10.4000/16956)

- Two varia under the editorial responsibility of the Philo.Sci. editorial board (see the full table of contents at https://doi.org/10.4000/16959).

Many thanks to all the authors and anonymous reviewers.

Individual links and abstracts below ⤵️

We're accepting contributions for the upcoming history and philosophy of programming symposium, on the topic "what is critical about programming?"!

It will take place in Basel on November 13 :)

Abstracts of around 500 words (including references) should be sent to
basel-2026@hapoc.org by 2026-07-31.

Read more at https://hapoc.org/hapop-7/

RE: https://mastodon.social/@pixelsfr/116357207969056274

“When scientists ‘rack their brains’ to approach computer science differently

At a conference held at the University of Luxembourg in March, around fifty researchers gathered for three days to discuss some thirty concrete examples of ‘undone science’.”

David Larousserie (Le Monde) reporting on #UndoneCS from Luxembourg (Article in French)

We have come to the end of the last day. Thank you to all the authors and participants, you are the ones who made this conference fascinating!

#UndoneCS

And we are back for a third and last day of #UndoneCS

https://www.undonecs.org/2026/programme.html

We are back for a second day of #UndoneCS

https://www.undonecs.org/2026

After lunch, #UndoneCS continues with the first keynote by
Payal Arora: “Building Inclusive Datasets: From Values to Design.”

https://www.undonecs.org/2026/programme.html#arora

Undone Computer Science is now online, from today Monday to Wednesday! Roughly, 9am-6pm (CET). For those who would like to attend online:
- register (for free) at https://www.undonecs.org/2026/registration.html
- receive the connexion info by e-mail (let us know if you do not receive it shortly afterwards).

A reminder to everyone that if you're awake (still middle of the night in USA), you can watch @undonecs gratis. Sadly it's a proprietary software streaming service, but the organizers worked really hard to organize the event. If I come next year, I'll volunteer to help do FOSS streaming next year.

https://fediscience.org/@undonecs/116274076967611227

This conference is covering topics that everyone should hear if you work in tech. Check it out!

#UndoneCS #FOSS #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #copyleft #GPL

Let's start #UndoneCS with "Video streaming: how do the socio-economical models shape our research questions?" by Natacha Lapeyroux https://project.inria.fr/videoimpact/

65 % of total Internet traffic!

Welcome to everyone arriving in town today ! With Undone Computer Science starting tomorrow morning, it is not too late to register to attend remotely (for free): https://www.undonecs.org/2026.

#UndoneCS

Next week, I'll give a short talk at @undonecs: Undone Computer Science 2026 conference.
This is a crossover event: activists, academics, & #FOSS enthusiasts explore issues CS researchers *should* be looking at, but are not.
My talk?: the unstudied question of so many Complete, Corresponding Source (CCS) candidates provided by companies— ostensibly to meet #copyleft license obligations don't, in fact, meet them — & no one has systematically examined them.
#UndoneCS #SoftwareFreedom #FreeSoftware

• We are glad to announce the full programme for Undone Computer Science 2026 at https://www.undonecs.org/2026/programme.html. It will include a panel session on:

*The Politics of Computer Science: margins and centres*

taking place on Monday afternoon, March 23rd, and chaired by Tone Walford (University College London). The full list of panelists and more details on the topic can be found in the conference programme above.

Come join us in Luxembourg on March 23-25 to discuss ethical and epistemological aspects of computer science!

• In-person registration has to be completed on the day before the conference at the latest, but please register preferably before *March 16th*: https://www.undonecs.org/2026/registration.html.

• Online attendance is also possible, but *requires registering* (for free) at the same URL.

#undonecs

We are happy to announce the accepted extended abstracts at Undone CS 2026, now available on the programme: https://www.undonecs.org/2026/programme.html.

Conference: March 23-25 in Luxembourg.
Registrations: https://www.undonecs.org/2026/registration.html until mid-March (early bird until Feb. 16th).

#undonecs