3/23/22, 10:01 AM OCP 100: Lecture 4: Notes

Introduction to Microcomputer Studies and Information Technology

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Lecture 4: Notes

LECTURE FOUR
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES

INTRODUCTION
Software is a major part of a computer system. Without software, computer will just collect dust. Software plays a major role in functioning
of computer hardware and in solving user needs.

In this lecture, the software concept is introduced both from system and application sides. As part of this lecture, the software licenses are
also covered.

LECTURE OBJECTIVES
It is expected that at the completion of this lecture, you should be able to:

(i) Define computer software.

(ii) Describe software categories.

(iii) Explain use of system and application software.

(iv) Distinguish between proprietary and open source software.

(v) List software license types.

WHAT IS SOFTWARE?

Software are computer programs that tell computer what to do and how. Computer programs are a sequence of instructions written in such
a way that they can perform a task. Computer program instructions are written by using a computer language called a programming
language. Each program performs a specific task or a group of tasks. Software tells the hardware how to work, what to do, and when to do
it. Software are computer programs that tell computer what to do and how. Software is, unlike hardware, intangible part of the computer. It
consists of a sequence of commands, written according to strict rules. Programs are written by programmers, in various programming
languages.

CATEGORIES OF SOFTWARE

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Software can be categorized as system software such as operating system, utility, or application programs, all expressed in a language
your hardware understands. System software are required by computer itself to operate while application software is required by user to
solve their specific problems. Software needs to be accessed before it can be used. There are many terms used for process of accessing
software including running, executing, starting up, opening, and others. As well any document that you create, graphic you design, sound you
compose, file you make, letter you write, email you send or anything that you create on your computer is referred to as software. Software
is stored in form of files.

System Software
System Software refers to the operating system and all utility programs that manage computer resources at a low level. They include
operating systems, compilers, loaders, linkers, debuggers and other utilities. Systems software consists of low-level programs that interact
with the computer hardware at a very basic level. System software tells the computer how to interpret data and instructions. It allows the
user to interact with the computer. Operating System (OS) is the master control program which manages all computer resources. Without
OS, all hardware would just sit there and collect dust. Operating system is a program which manages computer hardware.

Application Software
Application Software is a program or group of programs designed for end users. They are programs designed for solving problems or
performs a particular or predetermined task such as word processors (typing letters), Spreadsheet programs (financial info), and Database
systems (inventory control and address book), graphics program, Internet Browser, Email, desktop publishing and accounting and personal
finance. Users, according to his/her needs, install the appropriate utility software. Computer functions and tasks that computers can perform
are defined by the installed utility software. Utility software can often cost more than computer hardware unless the software is open source.

Application software is made up of custom software (user-made software) and packaged software. Custom software is software that is
specifically tailored to user needs. Many organizations have programmers who write custom software that is specifically tailored to the needs
of the company. Ready-made software or packaged software or commercial software is software that you can buy it from software
companies or software vendors. The common utility software includes:

Text processing software is used for creating and forming text documents and nowadays, they can contain images, charts and tables.
Examples of such programs are OpenOffice.org Writer (OSS) and Microsoft Word (proprietary software).
Spreadsheet calculations software is used for performing various calculations and presentation of results in charts. Examples of such
programs are OpenOffice.org Calc Writer (OSS) and Microsoft Excel (proprietary software).
Software for presentations is used to create professional presentations that consist of slides with graphical and textual elements. Such a
presentation can afterwards be displayed as a "slide show” by using a projector. Examples of such programs are OpenOffice.org Impress
(OSS) and Microsoft PowerPoint (proprietary software).
Software for creating and managing database helps to manage a collection of structured data. Examples of such programs are
OpenOffice.org Base (OSS) and Microsoft Access (proprietary software).
Office programs - OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Office
Antivirus programs – Avira, Sophos, Kaspersky, etc.
Internet browser: Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari etc.
Programs for image editing: Adobe Photoshop, Canvas, CorelDraw, Draw etc.

ACTIVITY 1
Select OS of your choice and install it in your computer. State the name, its license type and OS version. List at least five
application programs which come together with your installed OS.

SOFTWARE LICENSES

There are millions of different pieces of software available for almost every need. In terms of its availability, software can be categorized as
commercial and open source software (OSS). The commercial software comes with business license through purchasing while the open
source software comes with license under the GNU-GPL. The OSS (GNU-GPL) license allows anyone to use the software free of charge and
free to modify. However, in OSS some restrictions may be provided such as software developed using OSS code may also be required to be

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3/23/22, 10:01 AM OCP 100: Lecture 4: Notes

open. Some other OSS developers allow their source codes to be used without this restriction. The OSS based license of GNU General Public
License (GPL) is the reciprocal license which states that if you use OSS licensed under the GPL license, then you must make sure that the
software is open source as well. Another OSS license is the Berkley Standard Distribution (BSD). The BSD license is the non-reciprocal
license which states that you are not obliged to republish any changes or modifications made to OSS code. This implies that the OSS code
can even be included in the proprietary software. The organizations managing projects that use OSS should establish logbook to record all
downloaded OSS tools and their licenses, understand the type of license and its implications. Some of the major issues when selecting any
OSS based application include assessing the maturity status, software scalability, growth, and integration and support issues. If you can’t find
any existing OSS application that satisfies your requirements, software development companies can custom design software for you.
Commercial software come as pre-packaged and is available from software stores and through the Internet as well.

ACTIVITY 2
List down examples of Open Source Software (OSS) software for OS, DBMS, Web browser, Word processor, Electronic
spreadsheet, Human Resource System, Financial System. Discuss the reasons why OSS is rarely used in some critical
systems such as in banks despite the fact they are freely available?

Various examples of OSS software based on their applicability include:

Operating System such as Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, Redhat, CentOS, etc)

DBMS such as MySQL, PostGre.
Web Server such as Apache.
Software programming languages such as Java,
Web browser such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera,
Word Processor such as OpenOffice Writer
Electronic Spreadsheet such as OpenOffice Calc
Financial Management Information System such as WebERP.
Human Resource Management Information System such as OrangeHRM.
Library Management Information System such as KOHA.
Customer Relation Management Information System such as vTigerCRM
Learning Management Information System such as MOODLE, ATUTOR.

ACTIVITY 3
Visit your faculty, regional centre or any other company you wish and list all OSS software that are in use. Write a report
to describe them and their distinction in terms of the licenses and the reasons for adopting them. What percentage of
OSS is applied in the visited office against proprietary? How much the company does spend annually in paying for
software licenses?

SUMMARY
This lecture has focused on software part of computer. Software categories based on functionalities (system and
application) and availability (proprietary and open source) were presented and discussed. Several software examples
were given including operating system, word processors, spreadsheets, web browsers, databases, etc. The concept of
software license was also introduced in this lecture.

Last modified: Thursday, 25 February 2021, 12:31 PM

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