

I need a software that ....  - rokhayakebe
http://twitter.com/#search?q=i%20need%20a%20software%20that
I need a software that...
======
blasdel
A native speaker of english from the west would never use this phrasing —
software is abstract rather than individual. Your usage stands out as south
asian as much as "do the needful" would.

"I need software that…" or "I need a program that…" would both be correct.

~~~
pvg
You don't need to qualify it that far. It's grammatically incorrect in just
about all standard forms of English. Exceptions happen in various jargons like
you'll see 'codes' in sciency and weapons-researchy contexts but I don't think
this is one of them.

~~~
kranner
On the other hand, frequency defines correct grammar eventually, doesn't it?
If enough South Asians use that phrasing consistently, you can't argue it's
bad grammar in that context.

Personally I find 'a software' and 'softwares' extremely annoying.

~~~
pvg
No doubt. I'm not trying to be some irksome grammarian making a fusty point
about dangling prepositions here. In current written English 'a software' is
simply bad. This could change, but we're nowhere close to the point where it
has. For all we know 'your welcome' might be just fine in another century.
Right now, though, it's simply bad writing.

~~~
kranner
My point was that it is hard to say when something is 'simply bad' in the
sprawling and multifarious carnival that is the English language.

I vaguely recollect from reading the blog Language Hat that modern linguists
sometimes decide which variant of a class (for instance, 'software' vs 'a
software' vs 'softwares') is more correct by counting how many Google search
results each variant returns. No doubt they need to filter this data in many
ways, but it would seem that it is no longer possible to say 'X is correct,
all else is not.'

~~~
biotech
There are certain terms (like "a software") that are never used by people
who's first language is English. IANAL (I am not a linguist), but I'd consider
myself a "descriptivist" when it comes to defining a language. I think that a
living language is defined by its usage by native speakers. Forms that are
never used by native speakers can be defined as "incorrect". Of course,
languages change (especially English), so those forms can and do become
incorporated into the language over time. But, as English stands in 2010, "a
software" is less correct than simply saying "software".

~~~
BrandonM
I guess by your argument and the prevalence of usage by native speakers,
_who's_ is correct as well.

~~~
joubert
I don't think he is saying native speakers never make mistakes though.

A better example _might_ be people using _if_ when they should be using
_whether_.

------
wheaties
"I need a software that generates a lot of traffic to my site..." Nice idea
and good initial attempt but you're going to get a lot of noise and crud with
this one. In fact, I linked in almost expecting to see "I need a software that
picks winning lotto tickets" to come up or the even more elaborate "I need a
software that works the way I want it too."

~~~
cubicle67
at the moment it seems like fake gift card software is very much in demand.
This request fills almost the entire list

~~~
uxp
That software idea is actually a job posted on one of the many freelance job
finder boards, scriptlance in this case. There are a few jobs that seem to
catch a lot of attention and get re-tweeted by a large number of popular
twitter accounts, including @hulufans and @rootzreggae, which don't seem to be
ones that should be interested in freelance job offers.

------
chrisduesing
"I need a software that controls US defense systems to remove human error from
strategic decisions _must not become self-aware_ " (via @laughlitmus)

------
megamark16
I have a saved search for "software sucks" and another for "program sucks",
they can be pretty insightful. A lot of people really hate CD/DVD Burning
software and manufacturer's printer software.

~~~
patrickk
Add in the manufacturers software driver for my Netgear Wifi dongle! NEVER
connects to my Wifi network (have to manually connect each time, tried a lot
of settings and nothing works). I have to have it installed so the dongle is
operable, but the software itself is crap.

------
michael_nielsen
I get (slightly) more interesting results from:

[http://www.google.ca/search?q=%22I+wish+there+was+software%2...](http://www.google.ca/search?q=%22I+wish+there+was+software%22)

~~~
hugh3
Or just "I wish there was..."

 _I wish there was a Gucci Mane bot.

I wish there was a checkers in tneck.

hey. There isn't a storm comming. I wish there was...

I wish there was a photographer with me in the bathroom rite now caz I look
hella sexy!!! #conceitedtweet_

OK, no great business ideas there (unless you work for Checkers Drive-In
Restaurants and can figure out where tneck is) but a great insight into the
hopes and dreams of people in the 21st century.

edit: Oh, apparently Teaneck, New Jersey.

edit2: _"I wish there was a way to bake cookies from my bed!"_ Now there's a
customer need for ya!

~~~
Raphael
"I wish there were"

~~~
hugh3
Oh, _I_ know that, but I didn't want to confine my sample to the tiny fraction
of twitter users with a grasp of basic grammar.

------
bearwithclaws
I've created something like that a while ago: <http://wappr.com>

p/s: looking to sell it. anyone interested?

------
jsz0
iusethis.com is probably a better resource for finding software that already
exists. If the goal is to find ideas for software that doesn't exist my
request would be something that makes sense out of Twitter searches. So much
garbage, duplication and SPAM. It seems like there should be some better
method even if it was simply a vote up/down style ranking system within the
search results.

------
metellus
Interesting idea, but the results are pretty empty...

~~~
pavel_lishin
The first page looks like it's full of people retweeting this.

And the rest looks like job ads.

~~~
gacba
All this just confirms the signal-to-noise ratio on Twitter is incredibly low.
Too bad, because poorly phrased or not, the question was interesting.

------
bitskits
I liked the part where nothing interesting happened.

------
jorrel
"I need a software that allows me 2 post short messages 2 the web n allows
people 2 follow certain people to keep up with it."

Haha, nice one.

------
tremendo
or <http://www.reddit.com/r/SomebodyMakeThis/>

------
marknutter
[http://search.twitter.com/search?q=&ands=&phrase=Is+...](http://search.twitter.com/search?q=&ands=&phrase=Is+there+a+website&ors=&nots=&tag=&lang=all&from=&to=&ref=&near=&within=15&units=mi&since=&until=&rpp=15)

------
sprout
If anyone at Twitter's paying attention, your mobile redirect breaks the link.

But I just typed it in manually.

------
toumhi
Could be interesting, however I think only software engineers reason this way.
Normal people want solutions to their problems, and usually don't realize
software could be this solution.

------
Jencha
You have set up recursion (there is hackernewsbot that post the same link):

hackernewsbot I need a software that .......
<http://twitter.com/#search?q=i%20need%20a%20software%20that>

------
JoshRosen


