IdeaWazaWiki - User contributions [en]

Software industry

2010-02-11T13:15:07Z

130.83.229.167:

{{globalize}}

The '''software industry''' includes businesses involved in the [[software development|development]], [[software maintenance|maintenance]] and [[software publisher|publication]] of [[computer software]] using any business model. The industry also includes software [[Service (economics)|service]]s, such as [[training]], [[software documentation|documentation]], and [[consultancy|consulting]].

== History ==
The software industry started in the early 1960s, almost immediately after computers ('mainframes') were first sold in a more or less standardized way. Universities and businesses began to use these computers and to seek out programs to do certain computing tasks. Many of these programs were written in-house by full-time staff programmers. Some were distributed freely between users of a particular machine for no charge. But others were done on a commercial basis, and the very first standalone software firms started in the United States in 1959-1960. Pretty soon, the computer-makers started bundling operating systems software and programming environments with their machines. IBM, which delivered most of the computers at the time, became a household name in corporate businesses worldwide.

When Digital Equipment Corporation brought a relatively low-priced micro-computer to market, it brought computing within reach of many more companies and universities worldwide, and it spawned great innovation in terms of new, powerful programming languages and methodologies. New software was built for micro-computers, and others, including IBM, followed DECs example quickly, resulting in the IBM AS400 amongst others.

The industry expanded greatly with the rise of the personal computer in the mid-1970s, which brought computing to the desktop of the office worker. In subsequent years, it also created a growing market for games, applications, and utilities. DOS, [[Microsoft]]'s first product, was the dominant operating system at the time.

In the early years of the 21st century, another successful business model has arisen for hosted software, called software as a service, or [[SaaS]]; this was at least the third time this model had been attempted. SaaS reduces the concerns about software piracy, since it can only be accessed through the Web, and by definition no client software is loaded onto the end user's PC.

== Software sectors ==
There are several types of businesses in the software industry. Infrastructure software, including operating systems, middleware and databases, is made by companies such as [[Microsoft]], [[IBM]], [[Sybase]], [[EMC]], [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]] and [[VMWare]]. Enterprise software, the software that automates business processes in finance, production, logistics, sales and marketing, is made by [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]], [[SAP AG]] , [[Sage]] and [[Infor]]. Security software is made by the likes of [[Symantec]], [[Trend Micro]] and [[Kaspersky]]. Several industry-specific software makers are also among the largest software companies in the world: [[SunGard]], making software for banks, [[BlackBoard]] making software for schools, and companies like [[Qualcomm]] or [[CyberVision]] making software for telecom companies.
Other companies do contract programming to develop unique software for one particular client company, or focus on configuring and customizing suites from large vendors such as SAP or Oracle.

== Leading companies: mindshare and marketshare ==
In terms of technology leadership, the software industry has long been led by IBM. However, Microsoft became the dominant PC operating system supplier. Microsoft has never returned the stick. Other companies that have substantial mindshare (not: marketshare) in the software industry are SUN Microsystems, the developer of the Java platform, Red Hat, for its open source momentum, and Google for its Google Docs. However in terms of revenues coming from software sales, the software industry is clearly dominated by [[Microsoft]].

== Size of the industry ==
According to market researcher DataMonitor, the size of the worldwide software industry in 2008 was US$ 303.8 billion, an increase of 6.5% compared to 2007. Americas account for 42.6% of the global software market's value. DataMonitor forecasts that in 2013, the global software market will have a value of US$ 457 billion, an increase of 50.5% since 2008. <ref>[http://www.infoedge.com/product_type.asp?product=DO-4959 DataMonitor - Abstract from Global Software Industry Guide - 2008]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Computer software]]
* [[Software development]]
* [[Software publisher]]
* [[Software engineering]]
* [[World's largest software companies]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.siia.net/ Software and Information Industry Association website]
* [http://www.softwareceo.com/ SoftwareCEO] the largest online community of software executives in the world
* [http://www.softwaremag.com/ Software Magazine website]
* [http://www.siprofessionals.org/ Software Industry Professionals website]
* [http://www.sao.org/ Software Association of Oregon website]

[[Category:Software industry|*]]

[[ar:صناعة البرمجيات]]
[[de:Softwareindustrie]]
[[es:Industria del software]]
[[pt:Indústria de software]]
[[ru:Индустрия программного обеспечения]]
[[simple:Software company]]
[[sv:Programvaruföretag]]
[[th:ซอฟต์แวร์เชิงพาณิชย์]]

Template:Architecture-stub

2007-11-14T10:47:24Z

130.83.72.214: same image; different name

<div class="boilerplate metadata" id="stub"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: transparent;"><tr ><td >[[Image:Corinthian capital.png|30px| ]]</td ><td >'' This [[architecture]]-related article is a [[Wikipedia:Stub|stub]]. You can [[Wikipedia:Guide_to_writing_better_articles|help]] Wikipedia by [{{SERVER}}{{localurl:{{NAMESPACE}}:{{PAGENAME}}|action=edit}} expanding it]''.</td ></tr ></table ></div >[[Category:Architecture stubs]]<noinclude>

[[bg:Шаблон:Архитектура-мъниче]]
[[ca:Plantilla:Esborrany d'arquitectura]]
[[fr:Modèle:Ébauche architecture]]
[[sk:Šablóna:Architektonický výhonok]]

</noinclude>

Foresight Linux

2007-04-15T22:43:21Z

130.83.244.129: german wikipedia has deleted its "Foresight Linux" article.

{{Infobox_OS
| name = Foresight Linux
| logo = 
| screenshot = [[Image:Foresightlinux.png|300px]]
| caption = Foresight Linux desktop.
}}

'''Foresight Desktop Linux''' is a [[Linux distribution|GNU/Linux distribution]] of [[free software|free]] and [[non-free software]]. It aims to include the latest software and to be as user friendly as possible.

Foresight is a [[GNOME]]-based distribution, and has previously tracked GNOME development closely. The distribution imported GNOME 2.18, 2.16, 2.14, 2.12, and 2.10 on the day each was released. The latest version is 1.2, including [[GNOME]] 2.18.1 as the standard [[desktop environment]].

Foresight features the [[Conary (package manager)|Conary]] software packaging system. This system only updates those specific files in packages which need to be updated, in contrast to other formats, such as the [[RPM Package Manager|RPM]] and [[Deb (file format)|DEB]] formats, which download whole packages.

== See also ==
*[[List of Linux distributions]]
*[[Comparison of Linux distributions]]

== External links ==
*[http://foresightlinux.com/news/ Release notes]
*[http://www.foresightlinux.org/ Official Project website]
*[http://wiki.foresightlinux.com/confluence/dashboard.action Project wiki]
*[http://www.gnomejournal.org/article/22/an-introduction-to-foresight-desktop-linux GNOME Journal article on Foresight Linux]

[[Category:Linux distributions]]

[[it:Foresight Linux]]

{{linux-stub}}

About engineering geology

2006-09-05T10:13:33Z

130.83.77.1: other languages: German

'''Engineering Geology''' is the application of the science of [[geology]] to the understanding of [[geologic]] phenomena and the engineering solution of [[geologic hazards]] and other geologic problems for society. Engineering geologic studies may be performed during the planning, [[environmental impact analysis]], [[civil engineering]] [[design]], [[value engineering]] and construction phases of public and private works projects, and during post-construction and [[forensic]] phases of projects. Engineering geologic studies are performed by a [[geologist]] or [[engineering geologist]] educated, professionally trained and skilled at the recognition and analysis of [[geologic hazards]] and adverse geologic conditions. Their overall objective is the protection of people and property against damage and the solution of geologic problems.

Engineering geologic studies may be performed
*for residential, commercial and industrial developments;
*for governmental and [[military]] installations;
*for public works such as a [[power plant]], [[wind turbine]], [[transmission line]], [[sewage treatment]] plant, [[water treatment]] plant, [[Pipeline_transport|pipeline]] ([[aqueduct]], [[sewer]], [[outfall]]), [[tunnel]], [[trenchless]] construction, [[canal]], [[dam]], [[reservoir (water)|reservoir]], building, [[railroad]], [[transit]], [[highway]], [[bridge]], [[seismic retrofit]], [[airport]] and park;
*for [[Mining|mine]] and [[quarry]] excavations, [[mine tailing dam]], [[mine reclamation]] and mine [[tunneling]];
*for [[wetland]] and [[habitat restoration]] programs;
*for [[coastal]] engineering, [[sand replenishment]], [[bluff]] or [[sea cliff]] stability, [[harbor]], [[pier]] and waterfront development;
*for offshore [[outfall]], [[drilling platform]] and [[sub-sea pipeline]], sub-sea cable; and
*for other types of facilities.

It is important to keep in mind that in [[engineering geology]], there are only two important types of [[Rock (geology)|rock]]: those which can be moved by a [[bulldozer]], and those which require [[dynamite]].

==Geologic Hazards==
Typical [[geologic hazards]] evaluated by an [[engineering geologist]] include
*[[fault rupture]] on seismically active [[faults]] ;
*[[seismic]] and [[earthquake]] hazards (ground shaking, [[liquefaction]], [[lurching]],[[lateral spreading]], [[tsunami]] and [[seiche]] events);
*[[landslide]], [[mudflow]], [[rock fall]] and [[avalanche]] hazards ;
*[[unstable slopes]] and [[slope stability]];
*[[erosion]];
*[[slaking]] and [[heave]] of geologic formations;
*ground [[subsidence]] (such as due to [[ground water]] withdrawal, [[sinkhole]] collapse, [[cave]] collapse, decomposition of organic soils, and [[tectonic]] movement);
*[[volcanic]] hazards ([[volcanic eruption]]s, [[hot springs]], [[pyroclastic flows]], [[debris flows]], [[debris avalanche]], [[gas emissions]], volcanic [[earthquakes]]);
*collapsible soils;
*shallow ground water/seepage; and
*other types of geologic constraints.

An engineering geologist or [[geophysicist]] may be called upon to evaluate the [[excavatability]] (i.e. [[rippability]]) of earth (rock) materials to assess the need for pre-[[blasting]] during earthwork construction, as well as associated impacts due to [[oscillation|vibration]] during blasting on projects.

=='''Methods and Reporting'''==

The methods used by [[engineering geologist]]s in their studies include
*geologic field [[mapping]] of geologic structures, geologic formations, soil units and hazards;
*the review of geologic literature, geologic maps, geotechnical reports, engineering plans, environmental reports, stereoscopic [[aerial photograph]]s, remote sensing data, [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS) data, topographic maps and [[satellite]] imagery;
*the excavation, sampling and logging of earth/rock materials in drilled borings, backhoe test pits and trenches, fault trenching, and bulldozer pits;
*[[geophysical]] surveys (such as [[seismic refraction]] traverses, [[resistivity]] surveys, [[ground penetrating radar]] (GPR) surveys, [[magnetometer]] surveys, [[electromagnetic]] surveys, high-resolution sub-bottom profiling, and other geophysical methods); and
*other methods.
The field work is typically culminated in analysis of the data and the preparation of an engineering geologic report, fault hazard or seismic hazard report, geophysical report, [[ground water]] resource report or [[hydrogeology|hydrogeologic]] report. The engineering geologic report is often prepared in conjunction with a [[geotechnical engineering]] report by a geotechnical engineer. The report describes the objectives, methodology, references cited, tests performed, findings and recommendations. Engineering geologists provide geologic data on topograpic maps, aerial photographs, geologic maps, [[Geographic_information_system|Geographic Information System]] (GIS) maps, or other map bases.

=='''See also'''==
* [[List of publications in geology#Engineering geology| Important publications in engineering geology]]
* [http://www.geotechnicaldirectory.com Geotechnical Engineering Directory]

[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Engineering]]

[[de:Ingenieurgeologie]]
[[pt:Geologia de engenharia]]
[[it:Geologia Applicata]]
[[pl:Geologia inżynierska]]

Engineering geology

2006-09-05T10:13:33Z

130.83.77.1: other languages: German