Black Duck Software Upgrades and Expands protexIPTM KnowledgeBase
The Largest and Most Comprehensive Repository of Open Source Software Projects and Licensing Information
WALTHAM, Mass., - February 13, 2006 - Black Duck Software, the leading provider of software compliance management solutions, today announced that it has achieved several key milestones in its ongoing program to expand and improve its protexIP KnowledgeBase. Major enhancements include broader and deeper coverage of open source projects and licenses, new capabilities for recognizing components from major 'stack' vendors, and increased live monitoring of open source project sites.
With these improvements, the protexIPTM KnowledgeBase solidifies it position as the world's largest and most comprehensive repository of information on open source software projects and licenses.
"The KnowledgeBase is the heart of our protexIP suite, and we are very proud of the breadth and depth of information it contains," said Douglas A. Levin, CEO of Black Duck Software. "Particularly notable is the work we've done to improve our handling of offerings from the major stack vendors, such as SpikeSource. The stack vendors are establishing themselves as reliable source of open source software. The protexIP platform, which has always offered covered of the components used in stacks, now offers customers the ability to identify the specific source of the downloaded stacks."
Enhancements to the Black Duck protexIP KnowledgeBase include significant improvements in coverage of open source projects and licensing information, new recognition of popular open source stacks, and wider monitoring of open source project sites. Following are descriptions of the main system enhancements.
KnowledgeBase Improvements
Broader coverage - The Black Duck KnowledgeBase - the most comprehensive in the industry - contains tens of thousands of open source projects, including 100% of all major projects. The KnowledgeBase offers 'A-to-Z' coverage, encompassing projects Apache to Zope, and grows by an average of 1,000 projects per week. Going forward, Black Duck also will further enhance the KnowledgeBase with more third-party binaries used in Java-based development, as well as more information on closed-source software components and licenses.
Enhanced recognition - the protexIP KnowledgeBase features new capabilities for recognizing the unique characteristics of the open source stacks offered by major vendors.
More detailed license information - More than 500 open source software and other licenses are included in their entirety in the KnowledgeBase. In addition to the full text of the licenses, the KnowledgeBase contains fine-grained detail, with key license elements fully parsed and characterized. No other product contains this information, which is critical to license compliance management workflow.
Increased 'live' site monitoring - Black Duck now actively monitors more than 2,000 open source project sites for any changes or additions made to projects. Changes are quickly and accurately captured and reflected in the KnowledgeBase, which keeps Black Duck customers up-to-date.
Automated monitoring - Culminating several months of effort, Black Duck recently completed development of a customized, automated system that continually searches the Internet for new open source project and licensing information. When new information is found, the system automatically feeds that data into the protexIP Knowledgebase. This is the first step in a multi-phased software development effort focusing on KnowledgeBase expansion tools that will make updates to the system increasingly automated over time.
Increased research staff - Black Duck boosted its in-house staff of open source researchers to six full-time staff members. This unique team of experts is exclusively focused on expanding the coverage and increasing the quality of the protexIP KnowledgeBase.
About the protexIP Suite
The protexIP platform creates a new work environment that helps organizations effectively manage their increasingly complex software licensing issues. By validating software contents, verifying license compliance, and finding and addressing issues early in the development cycle - or well in advance of a due diligence event - the protexIP platform helps companies reduce business risks, complete software projects on time and on budget, and stay on track with their business plans.
About Black Duck Software
Black Duck SoftwareTM is the leading provider of software compliance management solutions that help companies govern how software assets are created, managed, and licensed. Black Duck's offerings help businesses take maximum advantage of open source software while at the same time ensure that they satisfy the obligations associated with the code they use. Black Duck's customer base includes enterprises, product developers, outsourcers, law firms and other organizations worldwide that are concerned with protection of software intellectual property. For more information about Black Duck, visit www.blackducksoftware.com.
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© 2006 Black Duck Software, Inc. Black Duck Software, Sorting Out Software IP, and protexIP are trademarks of Black Duck Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
For more information, please contact:
John Riley, Black Duck Software
Tel: +1.781.891.5100, x404
jriley@blackducksoftware.com
Ross Levanto, Schwartz Communications
rossl@schwartz-pr.com
+1 781.684.0770
