Almost all software is social software

For sufficiently large values of "almost", or sufficiently loose definitions of "social software."<p>Is Excel social software? Word? Photoshop? Are most Line of Business applications? ERPs?<p><i>Hello, Mr. Hammer-- see anything around here that looks like a nail?</i>

This is particularly true for programming languages. What makes a programming language valuable? One factor is the libraries available to it. The more high-quality open libraries available, the better. The more active a programmer community, the better its libraries. It's very similar to what makes any website with a social component valuable.<p>Programming languages are social and cultural constructs as much as technological.

I like the gest of that article, but I surely disagree with the premise copied to this thread title.