OpenLogic, a provider of enterprise open source software (OSS) solutions, announced that it would be running a global census to determine OSS use within businesses.
The organisers of the census are ambitious in their project, aiming to collect and share quantitative data to count how many enterprise installations there are in the world for each open source software package.
"We realise that's pretty ambitious, but we figure you have to think big. Of course we know that we can't count every single open source package in every single company, but we think we can get a big enough sample to make it representative," the organisers said on their website.
In the census, participants download a software tool, OSS Discovery, to scan work machines to pick up the number of OSS programs being used.
The scans will gather information for the census, while keeping participants anonymous.
The census will be rolled out in several phases over the next six months. The first phase of the project was launched yesterday with the release of OSS Discovery under an open source license, and the invitation for open source developers and large ISVs to join The Open Source Census project.
"I can see great value in viewing first hand how enterprises are using open source projects," said Jim Jagielski, chief technical officer of Covalent Technologies and chairman of the board of directors of the Apache Software Foundation.
"The Open Source Census could help new projects – as well as established projects – assess corporate interest and uptake of their projects as well as the inherent vitality of their respective communities," said Jagielski.
To read more about the project and see how you can participate when it kicks off, visit the Open Source Census website .
To download OSS Discovery, go here.
Source: Tectonic
