Saw the announcement for this and thought it would be of interest. It’s a new tool called Binary Analysis. You can go to the site for more info but in short it scans through object code (including firmware) to detect specified source code. Apparently it includes automated checking for Linux kernel code.
Might come in handy for compliance checking, though, as the site itself indicates, it’s no substitute for a compliance engineer and the development of appropriate development policies. Also might come in handy if you’re doing due diligence on a potential acquisition if you suspect there might be some open source in what you’ve been told is proprietary. Usually the vendor recommended for that sort of work is Black Duck but I imagine Binary Analysis may be good for a quick and dirty check.
Created with the participation of Armijn Hemel, the same fellow that runs gpl-violations.org – an organization that tracks, publicizes and occasionally takes legal action against those infringing GPL licensed software.
