2.5 Software Issues & Trends

Software is an increasingly critical component in today’s computer systems. Regardless
of the approaches to acquiring software, it is important to be aware of current trends in
the industry which enable better decision making.
In the following sub-sections we discuss some of the software issues and trends.

2.5.1 Software Bugs

A software bug is a flaw in a computer program that causes it to produce incorrect or
inappropriate results. Some software bugs are obvious and cause the program to
terminate unexpectedly while some are subtler and allow errors to creep into work.
As humans design hardware and software bugs can be expected. Software bugs
become an issue for customers when off-the-shelf software is purchased.
Software companies try to release the software as soon as they finish the production
without waiting until all the bugs are identified and removed. Typically software
companies make money by correcting the bugs in the software and introducing it as an
upgraded version.

Bugs can be avoided by delaying the purchasing of latest software releases until the
bugs have been identified and removed. Furthermore, customers can be informed of
these bugs by connecting to software manufacturers web sites. By doing so, customers
can avoid them.

2.5.2 Copyright and Licenses

Most computer software products are protected using Copyright or Licensing
provisions. Copyright law gives the owner of a work certain rights over it, and makes it
illegal for others to use the work as though they were its owner. Originally copyright
came into being in the 18th century to ensure that authors were properly remunerated for
their work. Its concepts originate in the protection of written works, and it can be helpful
to remember that computer software and its associated materials are treated by the law
as species of literary work. Software vendors earn money through licenses. A licence is
a permission given by the copyright owner to another person (known as the licensee).
The copyright owner agrees to permit the licensee to take actions that would otherwise
be prohibited by law, such as copying, adapting and/or distributing the work. The
licensee will agree to take these actions within the boundaries set by the licence —
perhaps only creating and distributing a certain number of copies, or paying a royalty on
each copy distributed. Software manufacturers are developing new approaches to
licensing their software to lock in a steady, predictable stream of revenue from their
customers. Some of these new approaches include usage-based license, capacitybased
license, software as a network service and subscription licensing.

• Usage-based License
Under this method, software fees are based on the actual usage of the
manufacturer’s products. Similar to utility billing users are charged according to the
usage.

• Capacity-based License
In this approach the license fee depends on the processing power of the computer on
which the software is installed.

• Software as a Network Service
According to this method the software manufacturer makes its products available
through the Internet. Under this approach the software manufacturer offers services
such as bug fixes, enhancements and other updates.

• Subscription Licensing
Under this method user companies sign a multiyear deal with a manufacturer for
individual products and then pay annual subscription fee based on the number of
PCs they have.

2.5.3 Open Source Software

Open-source software is software that is freely available to anyone in a form that can
be easily modified. The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non profit corporation dedicated
to the development and promotion of open-source software (see www.opensource.org
for further information)

Users can download the source code and build the software themselves or the software
developers can make executable versions available along with the source.
Development of open source software is a collaborative effort. With the help of the
Internet, users around the world communicate (via email) with each other to download
and submit new software. Major changes of the software can occur within a small time
period. Open source software is associated with many popular Internet services
including e-mail and web.

Examples of Open Source Software :

Sendmail : a program that delivers email to most systems on the Internet.
Apache: a popular web server
Linux, Free BSD: operating systems
Perl: programming language used to develop Internet application software.