* Black Duck offers up code verification software free of charge
Black Duck Software, which provides a service for untangling the licensing legalities in using various open-source software, said last week that it would give away free access to its database through the end of 2005.
The move is designed to boost interest in the small firm’s product offering, ProtexIP/OnDemand. The hosted service allows application developers in enterprises and software companies using open source to check their code against a broad database of open-source licensing information.
Launched earlier this year, the service allows users to have the open-source code they’re using scanned to determine what licenses may govern the use of that software. The service can also check to see if users have blended together chunks of open-source code that, by their license, cannot be put together or even run on the same hardware.
The services covers more than 120 licenses, such as the GNU General Public License; the Apache Public License; the Common Development and Distribution License, used by Sun and Mozilla; and Microsoft’s Shared Source license.
The temporary free offer provides access to a service that normally costs $2,500 for an annual subscription. The service, according to Black Duck, does not involve moving code around.
“ProtexIP/OnDemand is a completely secure solution that leaves users’ source code safely behind their companies’ firewall during analysis,” according to the vendor.
