Global Open Source Census Launches To Count Enterprise Use Of Open Source Software

April 16, 2008 - PRLog -- BROOMFIELD, Colo. — The Open Source Census, a new  
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/4.16.08.php

Website: www.osscensus.org