Is "a software" really never correct?





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, [...]



Answer



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.


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