Re: Social Contract GR's Affect on sarge
Michael Poole wrote:
> Glenn Maynard writes:
>
> > On Thu, Apr 29, 2004 at 10:45:13AM +0200, Andreas Metzler wrote:
> >> I agree that it is impossible to partition the stuff in software and
> >> data. - There _is_ a grey zone. Accepting this and trying to differ
> >> betweeen "data" and "at least partially »software«" might be more
> >> useful.
> >
> > All data is software. It is difficult to partition programs from data,
> > but software is a superset of both.
>
> Please stop this crusade to redefine "software." Its definition:
>
> soft·ware, n. : The programs, routines, and symbolic languages that
> control the functioning of the hardware and direct its operation.
>
> (From dictionary.com; WordNet 1.6 includes "associated documentation",
> but FOLDOC and others do not, and outside of Debian I have not seen
> "software" used to include documentation or non-program bits.)
FWIW, I never have seen this restricted use of "software" somewhere
outside of Debian. Probably that's because I'm living in Germany,
and the word has a different meaning here (It's used as the
complement to hardware).
Thiemo
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