OpenLogic unveils scan for open source software

OpenLogic Inc, an open-source software vendor, is launching OpenLogic Discovery, a scanning engine which can identify installed open source software on Windows, Linux and Solaris machines.

The Discovery application, which is now offered for general availability, detects all open source software, whether it was installed explicitly or bundled with other software products.

It is targeted at businesses which need an up to date inventory of the software they are running, including those that were installed without authorisation.

OpenLogic Discovery fills a gap in the market, as many traditional software asset management applications don’t look for, and are unable to inventory, open-source applications.

Traditional software asset management systems rely on entries in the Windows registry, while OpenLogic Discovery uses catalogs of ‘digital fingerprints’ which can identify open-source programs.

This method allows OpenLogic Discovery to identify over 5,000 versions of 900 open source packages used by enterprises.

OpenLogic provides a free open source inventory analysis for up to 500 machines in a company which runs the Discovery tool.

The report details which open source packages are installed, how many installations of each package there are, which products are on a specific machine and how often they are used.

It also gives a list of which open-source licences are involved.

There is a charge for running the analysis on over 500 machines, starting at $5,000.