Detailed Instructions: Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.
Q: Possible Duplicate: Why don't we use the indefinite article with 'software'? In France I have always been told that saying 'a software' is not correct English (as a nominal compound), and that 'a piece of software' or 'a software program/package/product/system' must be used instead. Recently I have doubts... is there any case where it is actually correct? Examples found on the Internet: SalsaJ, a software for data analysis at school So if you sold a software which required your customer to pay a monthly fee, [...].
A:
No, this is always wrong. Both examples you provide contain incorrect usage of the term 'software.' (A mistake is still a mistake even if many people make it.) However, there might be special cases where you'd see the article preceding software. For example: A software solution would be better for the problem than a hardware one. The indefinite article 'a' modifies 'solution', not 'software', in this case in spite of preceding 'software' in this case.