What is computer software?
Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. Program software performs the function of the program it implements, either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of software. Data software exists solely for its eventual use by other program software. The term software was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1957; colloquially, the term is often used to mean application software. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer system, programs and data. Computer software is so called in contrast to computer hardware, which is the physical substrate which stores and executes (or “runs”) the software. System and application software Computer science divides software into two big classes: system software and application software. All other subclasses belong to these two cla
In General, software is a program that can be installed onto the computer via a CD/DVD/Floppy disk. Examples :- • Games • Windows / Linux operating systems • Photoshop • Microsoft WORD • Visus scanner / De-bugger – whether or not they requires a specific licence. Some games for example, do not have a licence or an installation key, but if it is the original media (not a copy of the original) then it is ok to be given to another person.
This page is an attempt to specify why I do not consider computer software to be speech nor software to be merely the algorithms it contains. The consequences of this are far reaching – much of the GNU philosophy is undermined (especially the GPL), software patents look even worse than before and the use of copyright law to protect computer software becomes obviously a poor choice. We need a complete overhaul of Intellectual Property law for anything which can be wholly represented within a computer eg; computer software, music, video, books etc. Computers can copy data upon them for near-zero replication cost and thus enable a hitherto unknown paradigm of data plentifulness whereas before there was data scarcity. Attempting to enforce data scarcity in a world where that just doesn’t exist anymore proves that current IP law has been made obsolete by computer technology – and this includes computer programs themselves. If you have difficulty with the below, please refer to the logic of
What most people think of as a computer can actually be divided into two parts. The first part, computer hardware, does all of the physical work computers are known for. The second part, computer software, tells the hardware what to do and how to do it. If you were to think of a computer as a living being, then the hardware would be the body that does things like seeing with eyes, lifting objects, and filling the lungs with air; the software would be the intelligence, interpreting the images that come through the eyes, telling the arms how to lift objects, and forcing the body to fill the lungs with air. Computer hardware, being part of a machine, can only understand two basic concepts: on and off. The on and off concept is called binary. Computer software was developed in order to make binary into a useful way to tell the computer hardware what to do. Computer software translates concepts and directions that people can understand into something that can actually be done on the compute
Computer software is a computer program which carries out certain logical operations (algorithm) not only to solve complex mathematical problems but also do things swiftly which a human being may take long to do and may make mistakes in doing so (like train or air reservations) and run machines on command from the computer. What is a Computer Program? Computer program is defined as a set of works expressed in words, codes, schemes or any other form including a machine readable medium capable of causing computer to perform a particular task or achieve a particular result. Is Computer Software Patentable? Computer software has generally been thought to be non-patentable on the same analogy as non-patentability of mathematical equations and calculations and methods. How is that there are about 3,500 patents granted for Software in USA? In USA, patent based on computer program is allowed when technical effects are produced by the operation of the program. Such patent does not extend any pr
