OSS Discovery: Scan for Open Source Software
Successful open source governance requires knowledge of what open source is being used in your company and where it is deployed. OSS Discovery is a free, open source software tool that helps enterprises find the open source software embedded in their applications and installed on corporate workstations and servers. By providing an accurate inventory of open source software, OSS Discovery lets enterprises better manage open source usage and remain compliant with internal policies, regulations, and software license terms.
OSS Discovery finds thousands of commonly used open source packages installed on a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac. Two editions of OSS Discovery are available:
The Audit Edition scans for over 130,000 different open source packages. Currently in beta, this edition is available for download in the OSS Discovery downloads section as well as to subscribers of OpenLogic Exchange (OLEX) Enterprise Edition.
The Census Edition scans for about 1,200 different open source packages and is used for contributing data to the Open Source Census. This edition is available for download from the Open Source Census website and the OSS Discovery community website.
Why Scan for Open Source?
Enterprises gain many benefits by regularly scanning for open source software. Using OSS Discovery in conjunction with OLEX Enterprise Edition, companies can:
Establish a baseline inventory of open source usage
Audit for compliance with open source licenses and internal policies
Gain visibility into technical architecture components and tools
Find opportunities to use more open source
Identify technical support, consulting, and training needs
Quantify and communicate the benefits gained from open source
How It Works
OSS Discovery scans applications or directories on enterprise workstations and servers and produces an instant inventory report of the open source found. OSS Discovery is non-invasive and does not "spider" your network. However, the command line interface allows you to scan multiple systems remotely, without user interaction, using existing software distribution systems or software asset management systems. In addition, command line options allow you to customize settings such as CPU usage and which directories to scan.
OSS Discovery is provided through a lightweight download for easy deployment with no server required. It scans quickly, identifying the open source in most applications in a matter of minutes.
OSS Discovery scans for installed open source software packages as well as packages that were not explicitly installed but rather bundled with other software. OSS Discovery identifies open source packages by several methods, using a repository of fingerprints for over 130,000 open source packages. The fingerprint library OSS Discovery employs to identify open source is continually expanding to encompass new packages and versions.
Because enterprises need to discover what open source is in use and where it's deployed, OSS Discovery does not require source code in order to identify open source. Using multiple matching techniques, OSS Discovery can find open source even when projects are bundled in other software or partially installed. These techniques
The OSS Discovery Community and the Open Source Census
OpenLogic developed OSS Discovery in order to help enterprises scan for open source software. OSS Discovery is open source software released under GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL). We welcome participation in the OSS Discovery community as well as the Open Source Census — a global, collaborative project to collect and share quantitative data on the use of open source software in the enterprise.
Download OSS Discovery
Use OSS Discovery Audit Edition to scan your applications, directories, servers, and workstations for open source.
Go to the OSS Discovery downloads »
Get a Free Inventory Analysis
Gain an understanding of enterprise-wide trends and requirements with a free open source inventory analysis summarizing the OSS Discovery scan results for up to 500 enterprise machines.
Register for a free inventory analysis »
Download the Datasheet
Learn more about the capabilities and features of OSS Discovery.
Download the datasheet (PDF format) »