# software

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software/29159>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 13, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software/29159 "2000-08-13T03:45:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![moondog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@moondog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moondog)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software/29159/1 "2000-08-13T03:45:10Z")

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who coined the term “software”? i have been instructed to find out or else.  
marcus  
[holmarc@gvec.net](mailto:holmarc@gvec.net)

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**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software/29159/2 "2000-08-13T04:00:24Z")

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John W. Tukey who died about a week ago at age 85. He first used the term in 1958 in an article in American Mathmatical Monthly.

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**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software/29159/3 "2000-08-13T04:41:39Z")

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I posted a reply to the crosspost you made in ATMB - [software](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=34402). Yeah, that was silly advice I gave about not crossposting, wasn’t it? Don’t know what came over me.