Software Issues and Trends

Software Issues and Trends

• Software Licensing–Vendors can copyright software–Guidelines : when information systems (IS)

managers cannot find proof of purchase for software, they should get rid of the software or purchase new licenses

In general, software manufacturers want to license their software to lock in steady, predictable stream of revenue from customers.Client should be aware of EULA.

EULA

• EULA(End User License Agreement)• the type of license used for most software. An

EULA is a legal contract between the manufacturer and/or the author and the end user of an application. The EULA details how the software can and cannot be used and any restrictions that the manufacturer imposes.The contract between the licensor and purchaser, establishing the purchaser's right to use the software.

Software Upgrades

– may offer valuable enhancements– may contain bugs

– Software companies revise their programs and sell new versions periodically. In some cases the revised software offers new and valuable enhances.Example of upgrades include service packs provide by Microsoft for their operating systems.

Shareware

– user is expected to pay the author a modest amount for the privilege of using it

• Examples DVD-Cloner VI, Registry Mechanic, Blue-Cloner, Total Privacy,

Easy Movie Splitter 2.5.3, Ultra ISO 7.6, Wonder share YouTube Downloader, Internet Download Accelerator 3.1, Clone DVD 4.3 and PHP Debugger 2.1.3.3.

• Shareware software are made available for free by the software developer, but for a limited period of time, after which they need to be bought to continue their usage.

Shareware

• Once the trial period has passed, the program may stop running until a license is purchased, or run with limitations such as quitting after a short elapsed time or the inability to save work. Shareware is often offered without supports or updates which only become available with the purchase of a license. The words "free trial" or "trial version" are indicative of shareware.

Freeware

• computer software that is distributed along with its source code, and is released under a software license that guarantee users the freedom to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, adapt/modify, and distribute the original software and the adapted/changed versions. Free software is often developed collaboratively by volunteer computer programmers.

Freeware– software that is free

• AdvantageCustomizability– Everybody has the right to modify the source code, This means the code can be

implemented in order pieces of software and adapted to changing environment• Quality

– In general, open source software gets closest to what user want because those users can have a hand in making. Users and developers make what they want and they make high quality of source.

• Cost – Most current Open Source are available free of royalties– Individuals and smaller companies may aid in developing the software reducing

number of programmers to pay the salaries.

Freeware

• DisadvantageNo guarantee– It is impossible to know if a project will ever reach a suitable stage on

time and even if it reaches, it may have many bugs or problems later and no one guarantees the software and nobody is bound to give you regular updates since it is free.

• No support– Since it is free, there is no support even thought there are many helps

available on the internet, the users have to have self-motivation to help them install and to run open software without any support.

• Not reliable– Because the users can modify the source by themselves, the source

could have some problems and may not be reliable.

• is a characteristic of software components or systems which cannot operate satisfactorily together on the same computer, or on different computers linked by a computer network. Software compatibility is a characteristic of software components or systems which can operate satisfactorily together on the same computer, or on different computers linked by a computer network. It is possible that some software components or systems may be compatible in one environment and incompatible in another.

Software incompatibility

Interface incompatibility

• Another example of a different kind would be where one software component provides service to another. The incompatibility could be as simple as a change in the order of parameters between the software component requesting service, and the component providing the service. This would be a kind of interface incompatibility. This might be considered a bug, but could be very hard to detect in some systems. Some interface incompatibilities can easily be detected during the build stage, particularly for strongly typed systems, others may be hard to find and may only be detected at run time, while others may be almost impossible to detect without a detailed program analysis.

Performance incompatibility

• Sometimes programs P and Q can be running on the same computer, and the presence of one will inhibit the performance of the other. This can particularly happen where the computer uses virtual memory. The result may be that disk thrashing occurs, and one or both programs will have significantly reduced performance. This form of incompatibility can occur if P and Q are intended to cooperate, but can also occur if P and Q are completely unrelated but just happen to run at the same time. An example might be if P is a program which produces large output files, which happen to be stored in main memory, and Q is an anti-virus program which scans many files on the hard disk. If a memory cache is used for virtual memory, then it is possible for the two programs to interact adversely and the performance of each will be drastically reduced.

Performance incompatibility

• For some programs P and Q their performance compatibility may depend on the environment in which they are run. They may be substantially incompatible if they are run on a computer with limited main memory, yet it may be possible to run them satisfactorily on a machine with more memory. Some programs may be performance incompatible in almost any environment.

Software - Operating System Issues

• why do computers fail? There are many reasons, but the most common are vulnerabilities and holes, improper configuration, and faulty hardware.

• Furthermore, if you pay much attention to the news, you may have noticed stories about malicious Internet users, who take advantage of these same issues. In this first section, we will investigate these issues and learn about a few practical guidelines we can take to prevent them.

Software - Operating System Issues

• Vulnerabilities and Holes: The first reason that computers fail is that a computer’s operating system has many inherent vulnerabilities and holes.

• Computer programming is not a perfect science, and operating systems—that is, the software that allows the computer to run, is some of the most complex software out there.

• Every once and a while, the press releases a news story about a new hole in an operating system. What they are talking about is a programming flaw that will allow a hacker to do something he or she is not supposed to be able to do to the system.

Improper Configuration

• The second reason is that, unfortunately, many “off the shelf” software products, such as operating systems, are configured incorrectly.

• What does this mean? Well, a computer system has the ability to provide all

sorts of services, such as email, Internet access, and literally hundreds of other services. For every service a computer system offers, it opens a software doorway, or port.

Most end users such as us do not need these services. In fact, the ports that these services open are dangerous and make it easier for hackers to crack into our systems.

Hardware Failure

• Another reason that computers fail is actually a hardware problem. A disk drive is the piece of hardware where all your data is stored. Similar to the way a record player works, a disk drive spins around while a “head” reads the data off of it. Sooner or later, every disk drive will be worn out from this constant spinning, and will fail. When this happens, you lose all the data that is on that disk.

Software - Operating System Issues

Practical Guidelines for Protecting against OS Issues• While the issues with operating systems and computer

hardware may seem overwhelming, there are actually a few simple things that you can do as an end user to make sure that your computer and the sensitive data that resides on it is well-protected.

 These guidelines are:• Update your computer patches weekly.• Back up your computer every night.• Make sure your computer is properly configured

Spam

• Electronic spamming is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages (spam), especially advertising, indiscriminately. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam

Virus• A computer virus is a malware program that,

when executed, replicates by inserting copies of itself (possibly modified) into other computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of the hard drive.

• when this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected”.

Virus

• Viruses often perform some type of harmful activity on infected hosts, such as stealing hard disk space or CPU time, accessing private information, corrupting data, displaying political or humorous messages on the user's screen, spamming their contacts, or logging their keystrokes.

• However, not all viruses carry a destructive payload or attempt to hide themselves—the defining characteristic of viruses is that they are self-replicating computer programs which install themselves without the user's consent.

Types of computer viruses• Time bomb A time bomb is a virus program that performs an activity on a particular date

• Logical Bomb A logical bomb is a destructive program that performs an activity when a certain action has

occurred

• Worm A worm is also a destructive program that fills a computer system with

self-replicating information, clogging the system so that its operations are slowed down or stopped

• Boot sector virus A boot sector virus infects boot sector of computers. During system

boot, boot sector virus is loaded into main memory and destroys data stored in hard disk

Types of computer viruses

• Macros virus A macro virus is associated with application software like word and excel.

When opening the infected document, macro virus is loaded into main memory and destroys the data stored in hard disk

• Script virus Commonly found script viruses are written using the Visual Basic Scripting

edition (VBS) and the JavaScript programming languages

• Trojan horse Trojan Horse is a destructive program. It usually pretends as computer games

or application software. If executed, computer system will be damaged. Trojan Horse usually comes with monitoring tools and key loggers

Actions to prevent virus infection

Always update your anti-virus software at least weekly.

Back up your important files and ensure that they can be restored.

Change the computer's boot sequence to always start the PC from its hard drive

Actions to prevent virus infection

Don't share Drive C: without a password and without read-only restrictions.

Empty floppy drives of diskettes before turning on computers, especially laptops

Forget opening unexpected e-mail attachments, even if they're from friends

Get trained on your computer's anti-virus software and use it.

Have multiple backups of important files. This lowers the chance that all are infected.

Actions to prevent virus infection

Install security updates for your operating system and programs as soon as possible.

Jump at the chance to learn more about your computer. This will help you spot viruses.

Global Software Support

• Globalization has ensured that computer networks stretch to all corners of the earth. Software producers need to ensure they provide global support otherwise people will go to their competition instead.