Module 1.6 - Extended Software Concepts

Question 1

Name the two main types or groups of software?

Answer 1

• Application software
• System software

Question 2

What is Appilcation software?

Answer 2

Application software is a group of programs that perform a specific task for users

Question 3

What is System software

Answer 3

Is software that is intended to control, support or operate the computer

Question 4

What does GUI stand for

Answer 4

Graphical User interface

Question 5

What is an integrated software

Answer 5

Is software that combines commonly used programs.

-For example the Office suite, it has word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation software and communication software in one package

Question 6

What advantages does Integrated software have?

Answer 6

• It is sold as one integrated unit - not necessary to buy packages separately (cheaper)
• The programs have similar user interfaces - if you know one, it is easier to learn another member of the suite
• It is designed for easy data exchange between programs

Question 7

Do you own the software you purchase?

Answer 7

No you don’t actually own it, you are rather buying a licence to use the software under certain conditions

Question 8

True or False:

A licence agreement is a legally binding contract between you as the user and teh software company

Answer 8

True

Question 9

What are these licence agreements often termed (named)

Answer 9

EULA

End-User Licence Agreement

Question 10

What does the licence agreement actually do?

Answer 10

It describes what you may or may not do with the software

Question 11

What is Proprietary software?

Answer 11

• It is software that is licensed so that the user may only use the software under certain conditions.
• They may not change it or distribute it.

Question 12

What is a Single User Licence?

Answer 12

This generally menas that you may only install one copy of the software. You may not install it on other computers even for home use. You can also ususally make one backup copy of the media (CD or DVD) that contained the software.

Question 13

What is a Site Licence?

Answer 13

A site licence agreement allows a company or organisation an unrestricted number of installations of the software within the company or orgainisation.

Eg. the school my obtain a site licence for a program so that they can install it on all their computers (an any others they purchase in the future).

This is also sometimes referred to as volume licensing

Site licence is more expensive than a single licence but cheaper than buying a single copy for each computer (depending on the number of computers you wish to install the software on)

Question 14

What is Software piracy?

Answer 14

Refers to the illegal installation, copying and distributing of proprietary software.

Remember that you can generally only make one copy for backup purposes, you may not make copies and give to your firends.

Question 15

What have companies done to try and prevent/stop piracy?

Answer 15

most software now requires activating or registering your software online

Question 16

True or False:

Software piracy is a crime and can result in hefy fines or even jail time?

Answer 16

True

Question 17

What is Free Software?

Answer 17

Is software you can obtain for free which you can install as often as you like and even distribute freely

There is even a category of software where, if you have the programming knowledge to do so, you can change and improve.

Most of these freebies are avialable on the internet

Question 18

Name types of Free Software

Answer 18

Freeware

Shareware

Open source

Question 19

What is Freeware?

Answer 19

is fully functioning software that can be used and copied without any restrictions

Question 20

What is Shareware?

Answer 20

is software that you can use for a trial period.

• you can download and try shareware for free.
• Software developer maintains all the rights to the software.
• It usually stops working when the trial period has expired. and the trial-version also sometimes does not include all the features of the full version.
• After this period, or should you wish to get the “full” version, you will need to pay for it.

Question 21

What does OSS stand for

Answer 21

Open source software

Question 22

What is Open source software

Answer 22

• is software that my be freely used, modified and distributed
• it may be altered, but cannot be sold.

The support and documentation can be charged for (it is the source code that is free)

Question 23

Name some examples of Open source software

Answer 23

• Linux operating system
• the office suites OpenOffice and LibreOffice
• Java programming language
• MySQL database system

Question 24

What are the potential disadvantages of open source software?

Answer 24

1. No guarantee of quality or that it works correctly.
2. There are often many different versions of teh same product. This could mean that when you work with this software on another computer, it could work and look different than the version you are used to.
3. One can generally only get open source software from the Internet.
4. Open source software is not as widely used. Eg. many more users use Microsoft Office and Windows as opposed to open source products
5. Documentation and support for open source software my not be easy to access

Question 25

What is source code?

Answer 25

Programmers develop and write programming code to create software. One needs this code to make changes or fix any "bugs" or mistakes in teh program that causes it not to work properly at times. Generally, you are never given access to this programming code - it remains the propery of the developers. With OSS this programming or source code in which the program is written is freely available.

Question 26

What is Copyright?

Answer 26

refers to teh legal right to make copies, publish and sell.

Question 27

What is Intellectual property?

Answer 27

is a broader concept that recognises the "ownership" of the person that came up with the original "idea" or "thought"

Question 28

What is Creative Commons?

Answer 28

is a non-profit organisation that promotes the sharing and free use of knowledge and products legally. They provide a variety of free copyright licenses which can be customised or modified to suit the person seeking the licence. E.g. you can specifiy the the work e.g. software program may be freely used by not distributed

Question 29

Name two types of System Software:

Answer 29

1. Utilities 2. Drivers

Question 30

What is a Utility program?

Answer 30

Utilities are used to assist the user to perform maintenance tasks related to managing a computer. Several types are included with the operating system, but stand-alone packages can also be purchased seperately.

Question 31

Name some examples of Utility programs

Answer 31

1. Compression software 2. Backup Utilities

Question 32

What is Compression software?

Answer 32

- is used to make a compressed version of a file - aimed at reducing the size of a file so that it takes up less space to store - often used to reduce the size of email attachements - multiple folders and files can also be compressed into a single compressed folder - some files and types of file swill compress more than others. - the process of compressing the file is often referred to as "zipping" the file - the process of changing the compressed version of the file back to its original size so you can work with it, is known as decompressing or "unzipping" - E.g. WinZip and WinRar

Question 33

Why is it essential to make backups or copies of files on a regular basis?

Answer 33

1. electroinic files can be accidentally deleted or overwritten with the wong version of the file 2. files can sometimes become corrupt (thir contents get a bit "scrambled") by not shutting down properly, power failures or computer viruses

Question 34

Name a 3 tips for backing up:

Answer 34

1. Keep the backups in a safe place - not on the same computer (what happens if this computer gets stolen?) 2. It is best to keep at least one backup off-site in case of a disaster such as a fire 3. It should only be necessary to back up your data files as you can re-install software if need be

Question 35

Give an example of what can be used to make a quick backup

Answer 35

Windows Explorer can be used to quickly copy our files to a portable medium such as a DVD or external hard drive.

Question 36

Additional notes on backups

Answer 36

A specialised backup utility program should be used to make sure that all your files are backed up correctly. Many of these backup utilities automatically compress the files to save space on the disk they are being copied to. Windows provides its own backup utility but a number of other backup utilities (some free) also exist.

Question 37

What is a driver?

Answer 37

- software that allows your computer to communicate with the hardware or devices. - The operating system comes with a huge set of drivers and in general, dirvers are installed automatically. It is however also possible to find the driver you need on the disk that came with the hardware or to download it from the internet.

Question 38

Why do we need drivers?

Answer 38

- There are thousands of different makes and types of hardware devices. - It would be impossible for the operating system to know how to use each device on the market. - We therefore make use of drivers to control hardware. - Every piece of hardware - from a flash disk to your printer - is controlled by a driver.

Question 39

**_Overview of Module:_** 1. Software: 2. Licence Agreements 3. Free Software 4. Types of system software

Answer 39

**_Software_** 1. Application software versus System software 2. Stand-alone software versus Integrated software **_Licence Agreements_** 1. Single-user licences 2. Site licences **_Free Software_** 1. Freeware 2. Shareware 3. Open Source Software **_Types of system software_** 1. Compression and backup utilities 2. Drivers