Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun software A piece of software that has never been used at all since its creation.
  • noun A piece of software created for the sole purpose of being immediately shelved.
  • noun Software purchased but not used.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

shelf +‎ -ware

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Examples

  • More than one in five businesses that have had software audits are holding on to unused software, also called shelfware, according to a soon-to-be released software budget survey from Forrester.

    CIO News 2009

  • More than one in five businesses that have had software audits are holding on to unused software, also called shelfware, according to a soon-to-be released software budget survey from Forrester.

    Latest from Computerworld 2009

  • Once again, when you make a flippant and derogatory comment about "shelfware", it sounds to me like what's underlying that is a worldview that says "let's not buy proprietary software, let's have opensource".

    Run an Intel Agency? Have to Cut Contractors? Start With IT. 2009

  • The result is "shelfware": purchased software that is not worth installing.

    Run an Intel Agency? Have to Cut Contractors? Start With IT. 2009

  • •Eliminate spending on unnecessary "shelfware" licenses and maintenance fees

    InformationWeek - All Stories And Blogs 2010

  • Software-as-a-service customers are being saddled with "shelfware," just like packaged software buyers, he claimed.

    InformationWeek - All Stories And Blogs Charles Babcock 2010

  • Software-as-a-service customers are being saddled with "shelfware," just like packaged software buyers, he claimed.

    InformationWeek - All Stories And Blogs Charles Babcock 2010

  • Companies spend too much money on software to see it turn into "shelfware".

    CIO News 2009

  • However, encouraging you to purchase larger quantities than you need often leads to "shelfware", i.e., owning a whole lot of software you don't use.

    LXer Linux News 2009

  • It will be cheaper to buy more "shelfware" than to pay list price for your maintenance.

    LXer Linux News 2009

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