global, collaborative project to collect and share quantitative data
on the use of open source software, today announced its founding
sponsors and launched the Census. With this announcement, companies
and individuals are now able to anonymously submit data on their use
of open source though The Open Source Census web site:
www.osscensus.org. Participants in The Open Source Census will also
gain access to reports that benchmark their open source usage.
The Open Source Census is a project established by OpenLogic and a
wide range of sponsors – including IDC; CollabNet; Holme, Roberts &
Owen LLP; Navica; Olliance Group; Open Solutions Alliance; Open Source
Business Foundation; O’Reilly Media; and Unisys - to provide improved
data on how open source software is used in the enterprise. The Open
Source Census also has enlisted advisors from the open source
development community, including Jim Jagielski, Chairman of the Apache
Foundation and Tony Wasserman, Director, Software Management Program
at Carnegie Melon West.
Goals of The Open Source Census
The overarching goal of The Open Source Census is to paint an accurate
portrait of open source usage in the enterprise. Until now, many
enterprises did not know what open source software is installed on
servers and desktops -- making traditional market research
methodologies insufficient to identify what open source projects are
gaining traction in the enterprise.
Enterprises Can Benchmark Open Source Usage
Yet the demand for this information is great, as enterprises struggle
to sift through thousands of open source projects to determine what
might work for them. Using OSS Discovery, an open source tool,
enterprises or individuals can now scan any of their computers and
contribute the scan results back into The Open Source Census database
-- anonymously and free of charge. Once they have contributed scans,
participants will have access to reports that summarize their own open
source usage and provide comparisons to other similar companies. These
reports will enable companies to benchmark their own open source usage
and identify opportunities to leverage the benefits of more open
source software.
Aggregate Census Data Available on the Web
Aggregate, anonymous data collected through The Open Source Census
will be provided for free on a web site. This aggregate data will list
the number of times each project has been installed on computers
across all participating enterprises and individuals, enabling open
source communities and developers to track usage of their projects.
“IDC is pleased to be the industry analyst sponsor of the Open Source
Census,” said Matt Lawton, Program Director, Open Source Software
Business Strategies at IDC. “Open source software continues to grow in
deployment, but until now the industry has relied on downloads or best
guesses from enterprises as a rough measure of adoption. The Open
Source Census will provide the industry with much more granular
information about where downloads are being installed, enabling both
customers and IT solution providers to better understand the true
impact that open source software is having. IDC will be helping to
ensure such data is interpreted consistently, as well as combining
this information with other IDC research to present a more complete
picture of open source adoption.”
“We are thrilled to see so many other open source organizations and
vendors both big and small, research and academic groups, and
community leaders and members get behind The Open Source Census,” said
Kim Weins, Senior Vice President of Marketing at OpenLogic. “To make
The Open Source Census successful, requires this type of ongoing
industry-wide cooperation. We are all excited to see The Open Source
Census start counting enterprise open source installations, so we can
then share these results and further enable adoption of open source in
the enterprise.”
Open Source Census Sponsors
Sponsors include OpenLogic; IDC; CollabNet; Holme, Roberts & Owen
LLPNavica; Olliance Group; Open Solutions Alliance; Open Source
Business Foundation and O’Reilly Media. Serving as advisors to the
Open Source Census are Jim Jagielski, Chairman of the Apache
Foundation and Tony Wasserman, Director, Software Management Program
at Carnegie Melon West.
Read More: https://www.osscensus.org/
