软件 - but not meaning software

[Milkybar_Kid]

Hello,

 

It seems like I'm seeing 硬件 and 软件 mentioned more often in Chinese introductory texts which have nothing to do with computing these days. Here is the example I've just come across today:

 

Quote

我发现本大学不仅硬件设施非常完善，在软件方面也是做到了全方位为学生考虑。

 

Now obviously I know that this author is not specifically referring to the computers at their university, but rather the university as a whole. I would translate 硬件设施 as 'facilities', but I don't know what they mean by the 软件 at their university. The student services perhaps?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Geiko]

I had never seen this use of 软件, but it makes sense.

 

From Pleco:

Quote

2 FIGURATIVE software; quality of personnel; management and service, etc.

文化软件 wénhuà ruǎnjiàn cultural software

[Balthazar]

I think 软件 can also have a figurative meaning, just as "software" can have in English. I don't know how common this usage is in either language, though.

 

Edit: Geiko beat me to it. I can't see his screenshot, but Pleco (PLC dict) translate the figurative meaning as "software; quality of personnel; management and service, etc." The ABC dict suggests it can also be slang meaning "talented people".

[歐博思]

"faculty"

 

A tech savvy English writer might put things the same way.

[Kleine Rurstrasse]

Not only "faculty",

硬件设施: something visible

软件: could be something invisible: faculty level, management style, campus environment, teaching philosophy, welfare...etc.