'What's the meaning of configuration in software configuration management(SCM)?

I'm confused by the term configuration in SCM.

In my opinion, configuration refers to the combination of software configuration options/parameters/entries and their corresponding values. But in SCM, I find that it relates to software's functional and physical characteristics.

  1. So what are the functional and physical characteristics? Do they contain the configuration options?
  2. Software is not a physical entity. Why does it have physical characteristics?


Sources

This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Overflow and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Source: Stack Overflow

Solution Source