Software project filter

1. A method for controlling access to or use of software applications comprising the steps of:

storing information concerning a set of software applications, wherein one or more of said software applications are open source software applications;

defining filter criteria relating to one of access to and use of said software applications, said filter criteria includes: a) one or more of license parameters that identify license information associated with said software applications, b) software use parameters that define allowable uses of said software applications, and c) user parameters that identify or classify users associated with a client entity, said filter criteria governing a requestor's right to access or use of said software applications separate from any rights granted by providers of said software applications;

receiving a request from said requestor for one of access to and use of one or more identified software applications; and

operating a computer based tool to process said request in accordance with said filter criteria and provide an output responsive to said request, wherein said step of operating comprises accessing said stored information and said filter criteria, wherein said output provides an indication to said requestor regarding one of access to and use of said identified software applications, and wherein said indication specifies a status for said request from multiple filter levels including at least some of approval of said request, disapproval of said request, and limitations regarding said request.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said filter criteria identify particular software applications within said set of said software applications and said step of operating comprises comparing said request to said particular software applications of said filter criteria.

3. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said filter criteria further identify software application types and said step of operating comprises comparing said request to said software application types.

4. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said step of operating comprises comparing said request to said license information.

5. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said license information includes license types for said open source software applications.

6. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said filter criteria are user dependent and said step of operating comprises determining a user associated with said request.

7. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said filter criteria are use dependent and said step of operating comprises determining an intended use associated with said request.

8. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said computer based tool is operative to install said software applications within said set and said step of operating comprises selectively installing said identified software applications based on said filter criteria.

9. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said request seeks access to a public network node associated with said identified software applications and said step of operating involves controlling communication between said public network node and a node associated with said request.

10. A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said step of providing an output comprises enabling a display reflecting said filter criteria.

11. A software application filter system, comprising:

storage for storing a list of software applications and filter criteria relating to one of access to and use of said software applications, said filter criteria governing a requestor's right to access or use said software applications separate from any rights granted by providers of said software applications, wherein said filter criteria include one or more of: a) license parameters that identify license information associated with said software applications, b) software use parameters that define allowable uses of said software applications, and c) user parameters that identify or classify users associated with a client entity, said filter criteria governing a requestor's right to access or use of said software applications separate from any rights granted by providers of said software applications; and wherein said software applications include at least one open source software application;

interface structure for receiving a request regarding said software applications; and

a processor for determining a subset of said software applications for responding to said request based on said filter criteria, wherein said determining comprises accessing said list of software applications and said filter criteria and said responding comprises providing an output responsive to said request, wherein said output provides an indication regarding one of access to and use of said software applications, and wherein said indication specifies a status for the request from multiple filter levels including at least some of approval of said request, disapproval of said request, and limitations regarding said request.

12. A system as set forth in claim 11 , wherein said filter criteria identify particular software applications and said processor is operative for comparing said request to said software applications.

13. A system as set forth in claim 11 , wherein said filter criteria identify software application types and said processor is operative for comparing said request to said software applications types.

14. A system as set forth in claim 11 , wherein said processor is operative for comparing said request to said license information.

15. A system as set forth in claim 11 , wherein said filter criteria are user dependent and said processor is operative for determining a user associated with said request.

16. A system as set forth in claim 11 , wherein said processor is operative for determining an intended use associated with said request.

17. A system as set forth in claim 11 , wherein said processor is operative for providing a display output reflecting said subset.