Software Configuration Management

The software industry is known to have commenced sometime in the mid-70s in the boom of the personal computer development. It started in the United States, and most of the biggest and the maximum number of software companies are located there. Even in the recent record of 2006, Microsoft has ruled over the entire software business across the world. The 2005 statistics clearly declared Silicon Valley to be the highest revenue earning software hub. The magazine also revealed the huge amount of 500 software companies dwelling in the fertile region.

The software industry is all about the overall construction and development of the computer software. The entire program involves the development and the final publication of the computer software. The businesses involved in the construction of the software programs and the many training and consultancy programs can be termed as the software industry.

Computer is a boon to the modern civilization. Yet we all acknowledge that merely the machine and the monitor do not fulfill the completeness of the potential technology. Computer software is the keyword to the success or the boom of technology in today’s world. The emergence of the software industry marks the beginning of the latest technology via computers to achieve every difficult task with ease and comfort. The software industry constitutes an indispensable part of today’s high-tech universe. Be it the huge mass of technology driven motors or the entertainment industry in vogue, the software industry holds the key to every success in every field of technology.

However, the success of a software company lies in its popularity and effectiveness of its products. The users are always in search of a better and upgraded form of the software that is already installed and opt for its latest and upgraded kind. With an increasing amount of software available at completely free of cost, the software industry assures of an ever-booming status and a prospective field for business and career.

The software industry may be divided into 2 major business categories; one of them developing the proprietary software and the others constructing open source software. In the first case, the entire process of developing proprietary software is quite cost consuming. It also requires a lot of protection from illegal cracking, piracy and other technological mischief of the evil miscreants. However, in case of the open source software, the main financial returns flow in through training, consulting and the support. There are a number of companies dwelling and thriving on the open source software business rather than the proprietary software business. MNCs like Sun Microsystems and IBM are making business based on developing free and open source software systems, moving aside from the hardcore monopolized proprietary software business.

What is Freeware software?

Freeware allows the users to its access free of any cost. The users are moreover, entitled to access the software without any limitation on time. The authors or the proprietors are always intended to offer something productive to the users, yet without losing control over the prospect of further future progression of the same. Whenever the programmer of the particular software decides to put a halt in the further development of the Freeware software, he passes on the source code to some other programmer or simply makes the code public as free software.

What is Shareware software?

The Shareware software is more to do with the marketing methodology of computer software. In case of Shareware, users can download the software free from the internet or get them from the cover-discs of many magazines. The users are also at their own liberty to check the software first by trying them out prior to buying the shareware. That is the reason why shareware software is always associated with the saying "try before you buy". The shareware software comes with a payment request and asks for a cost of the every software distribution license required to be created.

Open Source

The concept of open source actually implies an unhindered open avenue to the production and development of software products, source goods and many other technical details involved in the software industry and development. Open source software industry is actually related to the source code of the software products being offered to the mass public with absolutely relaxed and mostly non-restricted restrictions or regulations to care for abide by. Because of this easy and open access to the software products and package, the users are able to create their own individual software content by utilizing their individual effort or by forming a group or collaboration to work on the software product and content.

The ever-growing software industry

Software industry is ever growing and changing everyday with the latest development of the many software as also with the creation of new software programs. The increasing demand and expectations of the users and the creators have also led to the rapid growth of the software industry and its widespread. Many software giants in the Silicon Valley and outside are going into modifications and collaborations with some major software companies to improve their technical details and the overall business.