DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

Which are the greatest software ever made and why

36 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/which-are-the-greatest-software-ever-made-and-why.183421/

Anorion
Anorion Original post #1
May 4, 2014 at 3:33 AM
so this The Greatest Works of Software

it identifies the greatest as

Microsoft Office: How do we communicate about work?
Photoshop: How do we create and manipulate images?
Pac-Man: How do we play?
Unix: How do we connect abstractions together to solve problems?
Emacs: How do we write programs that control computers?

my argument stems from this one line

For all that people discuss teaching kids to code, or how the Web gives people a voice, Microsoft Office is the most empowering software in the world.

sure. but the listed are not the most empowering in the world.

I would say the most empowering in the world are

java - allows anyone to code for anything

webgl - allows anyone to code interactive 3d graphics for web browsers without a plugin

twitter - its the idea here, a microblogging service for anything, not necessarily just people. the next step for the web itself is an internet of things, and this is very likely to work on automated status updates, similar to toilet seat, safes and bakers owen's tweets. everything connected gives brief and regular status updates at large, for any use.

cryptocurrency

LOIC - the power for the collective to get any corporation or government on their knees for any reason. supplemented by twitter.

IRC

torrents

so. yeah, these might be a very broad definition of software, but hey, if it is not hardware, it's got to be software. what are your opinions? which are the greatest software? the most empowering?
ithehappy
May 4, 2014 at 4:31 AM
I know you are a coder or something, I am not, you lots can call me an idiot, and to me the best software is IDM :lol:

And comes in second is the one which can recovers data from formatted, re-formatted, re-re-formatted hard drives :D
G
May 4, 2014 at 6:36 AM
I know you are a coder or something, I am not, you lots can call me an idiot, and to me the best software is IDM :lol:

And comes in second is the one which can recovers data from formatted, re-formatted, re-re-formatted hard drives :D

Can you name the software which recovers the data from re- reformatted hard disk drives?
arnabbiswasalsodeep
May 4, 2014 at 11:31 AM
Recuva or other tools in digit dvd


The greatest software will be lan driver (dont know wether software), without it no internet!!

And other will be the operating system itself(it aint software but still...)
R2K
R2K #5
May 4, 2014 at 11:31 AM
Photoshop
I can't imagine how tedious and time consuming my work would have been without photoshop. Anyone working in graphics, photography or imaging industry would understand what I'm talking about :D
Nerevarine
May 4, 2014 at 11:34 AM
Greatest software ever is probably the OS itself.. Id say Windows for me, because Linux cannot run games natively, and Mac is well..mac
Without OS, we'd still be in the dark age of command line computing
rajatGod512
May 4, 2014 at 11:38 AM
Greatest software ever is probably the OS itself.. Id say Windows for me, because Linux cannot run games natively, and Mac is well..mac
Without OS, we'd still be in the dark age of command line computing

DOS is also an OS ... it doesnt have a GUI but a command line interface .
Nerevarine
May 4, 2014 at 11:38 AM
well i meant GUI based OS
skeletor
May 4, 2014 at 11:50 AM
BitTorrent imo.
rijinpk1
rijinpk1 #10
May 4, 2014 at 11:58 AM
Recuva or other tools in digit dvd


The greatest software will be lan driver (dont know wether software), without it no internet!!

And other will be the operating system itself(it aint software but still...)

it is.. OS is the system software unlike the others which are application softwares.
harshilsharma63
May 4, 2014 at 12:36 PM
I think the greatest software is the microcode of 8085 ad 8051.
SaiyanGoku
May 4, 2014 at 8:49 PM
Greatest software ever is probably the OS itself.. Id say Windows for me, because Linux cannot run games natively, and Mac is well..mac
Without OS, we'd still be in the dark age of command line computing

:+1: with this. CLI is OK but it's not everyone's cup of coffee.
Pasapa
Pasapa #13
May 4, 2014 at 10:28 PM
Steam, without it pc gaming would have gone dead.. :D
Superayush
May 4, 2014 at 10:35 PM
Avast for me saved me a lot of times from malicious software :doublethumb:
dashing.sujay
May 5, 2014 at 12:36 AM
Visual studio.

Took development to new standards, with such ease and flexibility and everything under one hood. Best IDE ever.

Then Steam, bittorrent.
Faun
Faun #17
May 5, 2014 at 6:09 AM
Firefox because I browse.
rhitwick
rhitwick #19
May 5, 2014 at 9:35 AM
Microsoft Office....

Name a job that involves a computer and you'll find MS Office there.
Inevitable and invincible.
sam_738844
May 5, 2014 at 9:47 AM
if we consider anything out of metal a "software" then java, RDBMS, OS...wait almost every piece of code out there is great! someone wrote it, thought something genuine that no other did when the first version came out. So that's great.
bssunilreddy
May 5, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Google, MS Office, MS Windows 8.1, Firefox...
sam_738844
May 5, 2014 at 11:11 AM
MS 8.1- ye kaunsa software hain bhai?
G
May 5, 2014 at 12:29 PM
Git version control

Linux kernel
ramakanta
ramakanta #25
May 5, 2014 at 3:58 PM
Turbo C and C++
ratul
ratul #29
May 5, 2014 at 8:27 PM
Ada LoveLace.. :p
gagan_kumar
May 6, 2014 at 4:04 AM
notepad (my most used software......)
Anorion
Anorion #32
May 6, 2014 at 5:39 PM
no one thought of wiki?
it was there since 1995, but didn't click and expand into wikipedia till 2001, and not such a central part of our life till 2007... so it takes time for empowering software to reach its potential
Vyom
Vyom #33
May 6, 2014 at 11:01 PM
vBulletin.. without it.. how could forums exist? And how could people from all over the world connect and share stuff? :D
A
aiza55 #34
May 7, 2014 at 12:49 PM
any kind of software which will enhance the utility of mobile? and why should i use these software ?
R2K
R2K #35
May 7, 2014 at 1:41 PM
iOS for iPhones. Android started evolving rapidly only since iOS started the real smartphone revolution. And now we don't even have to sit at a desk to stare at a screen all day anymore. You can do it while you are actually outside
Sarath
Sarath #36
May 8, 2014 at 3:23 PM
Bittorrent <3

- - - Updated - - -

Others I want to mention would be Windows 98, iOS ver 1 and Symbian s60 (pre-touch version)

and not to forget DotA :twisted: